City Nights
by Rather Embarrassed
Summary: One night she decided to play his game, little did she know how long the game would last, and how little sleep she would get.
1. Chapter 1

The lights of the city gleam against the water and shine more than the stars do. Though the light of the stars can't break through the constant smog hanging above the city. '_Nights like this, when it's windy, but mostly warm, I can't help but miss Azarath. I hate it. How could I long for a place that did nothing but cause me pain?'_ Raven sighs at her own melancholy thoughts, which is about the most movement she's made since she stopped on this roof. The last time she checked her communicator it was after 3, she's been on the roof watching- tired and bored. From the roof of the tallest building in Jump she can see most of the city. The bridge and the tower stand alit in the background, and the blue and red flashing of cop cars can be seen constantly. They will never stop in a city like this.

Raven is on patrol; something she's come to despise, regardless of how mindlessly simple it is. Flying from roof to roof around the city, stopping petty crimes and alerting the authorities when she doesn't feel like beating up some wannabe thug. Raven sighs again, wishing she was situated back in the tower _'This cuts too much into my sleep… and reading. Honestly, I don't even know why Boy Wonder makes us do rounds'._ The police take care of the little things. So for the Titans, Jump City is relatively quite at night, which is strange, one would assume that more bad things would happen at night. Granted, there are a fair amount of robberies at night, but all-out battles happen in the middle of rush hour. _What is up with these bad guys? I guess they just want to piss off poor 9 to 5 workers. And me, or just the Teen Titans in general_. Raven kicks her legs against the edge of the building; her boots make a hollow echo that she can hear bounce though the top floor of the building below her.

There is a heavy clunk on the other edge of the roof, barely audible over Raven's own noise. Raven resists the urge to turn as the familiar aura pushes at hers, always at odds. Internally she groans, '_I do not want to deal with this shit tonight' _Raven's shift ends in an hour, but apparently, her night has been too uneventful.

"What do you want?" She asks as the heavy footsteps come closer. It's more of a grumble; She's too irritated with his presence to care that she sounds like a whiny girl.

"Don't be like that, Sunshine" Responds the metallic voice of Red- X. "I just wanted to say hi."

He has visited her on rounds more than once. Usually to bug her with pet names and a sarcasm that rivals her own. And break things. Once he kidnapped someone's dog. She told Robin about that one, needless to say, he wasn't thrilled. Instead of letting her skip duty, like she had thought he would- Raven had been paired up with Starfire. And in Raven's opinion, that was worse. Keeping that in mind, She realizes that she should probably alert her fearless leader, but reaching for the communicator would require even more movement and removing her arms from the warmth of her cloak. Robin would personally arrive to kick ass. Then lecture her on being more careful. So she decides to stay put, and see how this plays out.

"I am not supposed to talk to you, and I very much doubt you just want to say _Hi_" Raven finally replies, the words forceful and sharp, like the should be. She silently wishes that her anger was enough to make him leave, but she knows that that isn't going to happen. He chuckles, but it sounds more like grinding gears than amusement. It sets her teeth on edge. _Maybe if I sprouted four eyes and tentacles. I would, but again, it takes way too much energy._

"Is that so? You do realize that you are in fact talking to me?" Even with the computerized voice she can hear the underlying amusement.

"Yes" She replies curtly. _I swear he gets off to annoying me._

"Why?'

"To see what you want, so I can carry on with my night."

"Which is sitting here doing nothing?" He asks slightly smug and intensely amused. Raven can feel his emotions swirl with happiness.

"Yep." She replies, not caring about the informality of the word.

There is a pause in the conversation and Raven silently prays to Azar that he'll give up and go away. But she knows she isn't that lucky.

"Something wrong, Doll?" Red X questions getting on her last nerve. Though she will never show it. He iss worse than Robin and Beast Boy put together, and that, is pretty bad.

"Nope."

He hums lightly, and with her powers, can feel the tone of his mood shift. She tenses slightly as he takes a step closer. In that moment Raven realizes how high up she is, this is the tallest building in jump. _'He could throw me off, knowing that I will be fine and come back to put up a fight. I'll kill him, and the team won't even know it. I can just dump his body in another dimension. Or dump him alive into the pits of hell.'_

But Red X doesn't throw her off the building. Almost to her disappointment, he sits on the edge of the roof, with his legs dangling over the edge, a good 3 feet from where Raven sits in the same position.

"You sure?" He asks. '_Now I'm legitimately concerned for my safety_.' But she decides to play along.

"Well… there is one thing." Raven responds, letting fake concern seep into her voice. Experimenting with vocal dynamics amuses Raven more than it probably should. Robin and Cyborg have caught the new inflection and both are torn between amused and slightly concerned. The villain notices it as well, his emotions are almost screaming at Raven.

"Yeah?" He asks, and Raven, out of the corner of her eye can see him turn in full to face her. His mask stands out bright white in the darkness, creepier than usual, tilted sideways in anticipation, less human than normal.

"So there's this guy, right? He's a total jerk, a creep, and rude. And he keeps following me around at night." Raven turns to face him, the movement and statement causes him to flinch backwards. Raven sends a flirtatious wink his way and with a smirk she teleports back to the tower. Surprised and slightly offended, Red X states blankly at the spot Raven disappeared from. _'That girl is something else, I should do this more often than I already do,'_ He thinks and with a chuckle, he teleports off the roof as well.


	2. Chapter 2

When Raven gets back, Robin is awake and milling about the kitchen. She glances at the clock- 4:36. '_Shit, I am way too early. Robin is going to kick my ass when I tell him_.' Said boy looks up from his coffee to stare at Raven, from the slant of the mask, she can tell he is not happy.

"You're back early." His tone is just as bad as she expected it. Raven grumbles outwardly, '_oh yeah, he is definitely going to blow a fuse_.'

"I know, and I have a damn good reason too, so let me explain before you go all Batman on me." Raven says quickly. Robin can sense her exasperation and the sharp angles of the mask soften. He raises an eyebrow and pushes a loose hand though his hair.

"It was X again, he just doesn't go away!" Raven fumes as she pushes past Robin to grab her teakettle. Robin waits for her to explain the rest.

"I was sitting on top of Key Tower and he just materializes and says he want to say _Hi_ and interrogates me like I'm his new best friend." Raven slams the kettle down on the stove and flicks the flame on. Robin looks almost amused now, but his concern and anger is still there.

"Oh and I did something you really won't approve of." She says as an afterthought, she tilts her head and glances at her leader. The whites of the mask widen in apprehension.

"What did you do Rae?" He moans, mentally preparing himself for a trip to another dimension to save the thief. Not that he's really mind leaving him there.

"I played along, insulted him, and winked." Robin drops his head onto the counter, his groan overpowered by the teakettle screeching. Raven pours the water into a clunky mug and throws in a tea bag.

She leans on the counter next to where Robin is sitting; she puts a hand on his shoulder. Robin looks up and to her honest surprise, he's smiling. According to her powers, Raven can tell that he's close to bursting with laughter.

When Raven comes back from patrols, she never fails to have a mind-boggling story or something to complain about, whereas Robin will come back with split lips and broken bones. But tonight, the resident half- demon has outdone herself.

"You winked?" He responds his words garbled as he tries not to laugh.

"Yep. Like this" Raven reenacts the moment. She leans closer to Robin, curls her lips into a smile drastically different than anything she has displayed before, and winks. And not just any wink, a full out, disturbingly seductive wink, with eyelash fluttering afterwards. With that, Robin does loose it, knocking over his coffee as he falls out of his chair holding his sides. He is struggling to breathe and through his squinted eyes and mask, he can see Raven looking at him with a bemused expression. But the laugh is contagious and in a few seconds she's laughing too, tears pouring out of her eyes.

"I wish I could have seen his face!" They exclaim at the same time, and their imaginations send them into another bout of laughter. They are laughing and rolling around on the floor and with Raven's uncontrolled powers, she knocks over the entire teakettle, which only makes them laugh more.

"Dudes! What's going on!" Beast boy bursts into the living room in a pair of boxers. He is disgruntled and looking around in a panic. The Titans' leader and resident demon try to stop laughing at the sight of the youngest titan in his underwear. At the sight of Raven and Robin, red-faced and lying on the floor partially entangled, he only looks more confused. Of course Robin sobers up first. Clearing his throat with a cough before speaking, he stands up.

"Nothing Beast Boy. Go back to bed." He answer smoothly as Raven uses her powers to clean up the huge mess they've made of their kitchen. Beast Boy nods groggily and stumbles back to his room. They watch him go and avoid eye contact so as to not loose their heads again.

"Well, you probably shouldn't have encouraged him, but I'm not going to yell at you for beating him at his own game." Robin takes on the tone the leader again. Raven nods, glad that she's not in trouble this time.

"Just be careful Rae, he's still a criminal. And we don't exactly know what he's capable of doing. I don't want you to be the one to find out where his limits end."

"Thanks Robin. You know me, I'll try to take care of myself." She touches his shoulder for the second time that night, But his time she lets her emotions flow into him through their bond. They share an understanding that way. Robin knows she isn't doing this to get herself into trouble. And he is glad Raven is the way she is. In his opinion she has changed for the better over the past two years. She's happier, still moody and sarcastic, but happy. Robin sighs and shakes his head lightly before walking off towards the control room.

"Try to sleep Rae" He says before the door closes. Raven scoffs at him.

Its close to 6 when Raven finishes her tea and breakfast and she escapes the kitchen before Beast Boy and Cyborg start their morning battle. Mornings in the tower are always the same- Robin and Raven up before the crack of dawn, Beast Boy and Cy in the kitchen at 7 arguing, and Starfire at 8, washed, primped, and perfect, munching on mustard covered toast. Three members of the titans think the only reason Starfire gets away with getting up late is that Robin still has a soft spot for her. And between Raven and Robin, it has become a running joke. If Star walks into a room and Raven catches Robin staring, She tires her best to remember his face and later when he's unsuspecting Raven will telepathically send him a mental image of his expressions. It's a fairly one sided joke due to Robin's lack of telepathic abilities, but he tends to get her back. Changing the code to her door, buying the wrong kind of tea, rearranging her books, and most recently, replacing her shampoo with hair dye.

Raven is thinking about the shampoo incident as she goes into her room, in her mirror she can see large black streaks in her normally violet bob. Its been two years since the defeat of Trigon and in those two years, Raven feels like she's done a lot of changing. She jokes and laughs and is generally more social. The most important change though is that she has control of her powers, not the other way around. Raven presently is pulling her now shoulder length hair into a ponytail, only at the tower does she do it. After she does Raven begins to toss off her uniform, somewhere in the direction of her closet. It's warm out today, so she probably wont put the cape back on. As she struggles out of her boots as she walks to her drawers, finding a pair of shorts- pink ones, a gift from Starfire for sure. Off with the leotard, on with the shorts, the sports bra underneath her leotard even compliments the shorts- bright blue.

Raven exits her room lightly humming under her breath. From the kitchen she can hear the boys arguing and as she passes Starfire's room she can hear her rendition of some awful pop song. When she pushes open the steel door of the training room the lights flicker on, illuminating a myriad of odd items. A big blue sparring mat takes up most of the space.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos" she chants under her breath and levitates above the mat. She continues like this for a few minutes before dropping to the ground. Slowly she starts her yoga warm up. She got into it a few months back, and takes classes twice a week. Raven smiles to herself as she shifts to another pose,_ 'I like yoga, better meditation and sick abs_.' Raven reaches down to the floor and kicks her legs up into a handstand. She holds the position then carefully transfers her weight to her left hand and lifts the right up and out, she bends her right leg and grabs it with her extended hand. She is holding this position when the alarm goes off. Raven falls to the ground and can hear someone laughing from the door.

"Damn girl! Ever think you picked the wrong line of work?" The mostly metal titan hollers over the alarm. The look on her face is priceless and in Cyborg's opinion, watching Raven fall was a plus.

"Yeah Cyborg, I always wanted to be an acrobat. Didn't you hear Wonder Boy and I are running off with the circus next time they're in town?" Cyborg laughs and tosses her a towel, though she knows the joke is a bit lost on him. Raven looks at him with an eyebrow raised. Cyborg grimaces at her expression, it meant trouble.

"Anyway, Weren't you supposed to be a football player?" Cyborg glares, smile lost, grabs her arm and throws her over his shoulder, ignoring her screams and kicks of protest.

"Awh naw girl, you did NOT just say that. I'm gonna get Bird Brain to ground you or somethin'!" Cyborg storms into the control center and drops her on the floor, and much like a cat, she lands on her feet. The rest of the team is staring and they shrug. Raven looks up at the screen blankly and Cyborg watches as Robin takes in her outfit. Cyborg looks at her again and thinks to himself, '_I have to say, Rae does look silly; barefoot, with that get up. I can also hear Beast Boy drooling.'_ Cyborg looks over at the green boy and flicks his ear. In response Beast Boy flinches.

"Dudeeeee! Not cool!" Yells Beast Boy, but Cyborg ignores him. Raven walks over towards Starfire and bumps the alien with her hip, they giggle.

"What's up, Robin?" Cyborg asks the leader finally.

Robin snaps back into focus, dragging his eyes away from Raven. Robin is tired and already stressed about their upcoming battle.

"It's Red- X"

A collective groan arises from other gathered titans, and though he didn't- Robin wanted to as well.


	3. Chapter 3

Oh hey there guys- Sorry it took forever for me to update. I think this is a pretty exciting chapter, so hopefully you can forgive me! And I have the next two chapters written, so you'll get those soon too. I moved, but mostly I'm lazy. Here you go!

* * *

Red X pulls the alarm. Instantly red lights and a high pitched alarm erupt from the building. It's early; the store hasn't even opened yet. It isn't something he normally does, but in light of the circumstances, he decided that it'd be interesting. He can't get the image of Raven out of his head; _'She sure knows how to mess with a guy.'_ He chuckles and tosses a fist-sized ruby in the air. The morning sun glints off the polished edges, throwing red light around the room. The glass cases that once held precious stones and metals are shattered. The merchandise is already gone, safely stored in his hideout. The ruby hovers in mid air, immune to Earth's gravitational pull, it's only after X hears the signature "Titans Go!" does he realize that the gem is encased in black magic. Red X barely dodges a blast of blue energy, cursing in his mind- _'Shit, that was close.'_

"Hey kids, no long time no see," he says, tossing a handful of X- blades towards the heroes.

"Once you're behind bars, we plan to keep it that way" says Robin, extending his bo staff and charging. X dodges the swing with a back flip, landing on top of an unbroken case. All the titans are there- the alien and the changeling look tired. Robin and the Robot Boy are clearly feisty. And Raven, the titan he wanted to see, is standing back, hands glowing, still holding the ruby in magic.

"I doubt that you'll be able to catch me" He replies tossing a large X at the 'Boy Wonder'. It explodes and sends the boy flying into a display case, shattering it. _'One down for the count.'_ He thinks with a smile, eyeing their leader already unconscious, he narrowly dodges three green starbolts.

"I will not allow you to hurt my friends!" Starfire shouts as she whips more starbolts at the villain. Two make contact. Red X hits the wall with a thud and a groan.

"Already done, Cutie" He says and throws restrictive X around her from the rubble. Star squeals, but before she hits the ground Beast Boy catches her. He emerges from the rubble and not wasting any time, covers them both in red goo.

"Dude! Not cool!" come Beast boy's disgruntled yell. Cyborg sends another blast his way, missing slightly. Red X runs towards him. A kick, a block, a few punches, some grunts, a yell and Cyborg is out for the count.

X turns around to face the last titan. There is a grin on his face that she can't see. Like wise he can't see her expression. Raven looks around, slightly disturbed by the fact that the battle lasted under 10 minutes, but that's how it goes when they fight one on one. But in the titan's defense, it's barely 7 am. Raven raises her hands, wrapped in black magic. She almost wants to just let him get away, but Beast Boy and Starfire are in the goo, watching and cheering.

"Looks like it's just you and me" He says with a smirk on his lips under the mask. Raven doesn't wait for him to move, she tosses shards of broken glass in his direction. X ducks under a case.

"You're going to have to be faster than that," he says with a chuckle, throwing explosives in her direction. Raven teleports out of the way and pushes the case over on top of him. He teleports behind her.

She tries to get her mantra out.

"Azarath Met…" The thief smacks an X over her mouth. She punches him, her fist making solid contact with his face, a snap is heard and a crack appears on the side of the skull mask. Red X stumbles backwards, falling onto another broken shelf. Beast Boy yells in the background. Raven shakes her fist out, knuckles angrily cracking.

Raven rips the X of her mouth as she walks over to where he is getting off the ground.

"Fast enough for you?" She questions aiming a kick at his chest, he grunts as he boot hit him. He grabs her ankle faster than she can pull away, tossing her into a wall.

"Not quite" He says getting up and running towards the hole in the wall. He shakes his head, impressed by the girl. He knows she must have only gotten 3 hours of sleep, _'If she even sleeps'._

Raven falls to the ground, shakes herself and chases after him, thoroughly pissed. She lifts up her fallen hood, wiping the blood off her forehead. _'When I catch this idiot he is dead!'_

In the alleyway she sees him teleport, she flies up to see if he lands anywhere close. The sun is up, shining and gleaming off of city windows- a sight that Raven would appreciate if she weren't too busy. A few buildings over she sees the black shimmer of Red X's teleportation. She follows suit, ready to surprise the thief.

On the roof X smiles to himself, he pulled of a successful heist, antagonized the titans, and probably gave Raven a concussion. All of that before breakfast. _'That's what she gets for calling me a creep.'_ This time he chuckles out loud and it covers the sound of the soft thud Raven makes as she hits the ground. Now she smiles, sending a tendril of power around his ankle, he takes a step, she pulls, and he hits the ground face first. The mask makes a terrifying noise, a combined effort from the boy's yell and another crack in the material. Red X rolls over, to face his attacker, in his head he scolds himself. He's being careless.

"Well, well, well… What do we have here?" He asks, the voice distorter in his uniform phasing in and out- making his voice more unnatural that usual. Raven cringes at the sound but answers regardless.

"You haven't won yet X. Give back what you took and I might let you get away." She keeps her energy wrapped around his ankle and through the contact, his emotions are amplified. Shock and amusement overpower anger and frustration.

"I can't do that."

"And why the hell not?"

"I'm a thief remember? This is my job."

"And this is mine." Raven lifts him up by his ankle, dangling him in the air. "You're going to jail. Now"

From the angle X is from, he can see the parts of Raven's face that are shadowed by her hood. He eyes are narrowed in anger, but one side of her mouth is upturned in smug satisfaction. He can see the blood running down the left side of her face. Internally he cringes, knowing how hard she must have hit that wall, having experienced the same thing, courtesy of Starfire.

"You're bleeding," he says, stalling, thinking of a plan.

"I noticed, thanks for that." Raven, sensing him calculating, wraps her power around him completely and reaches for her communicator. Robin answers.

"Raven! Where are you? Are you okay?" He asks, concern and relief coloring his tone. Red X scoffs in the background. Raven glares in his direction.

"I'm on a roof. I have X. I'm great, now get over here before I drop this guy off a building."

Robin rolls his eyes but nods. The communicator goes dead. Raven closes hers and snaps it back on her belt.

"How does it feel to have to answer to that idiot?" Red X asks when she looks back in his direction.

"Robin is not an idiot. He made that suit you're wearing didn't he? He's a great leader and a good friend."

"Defensive much?"

"Yes. As I would be if you had insulted any of my teammates." Raven is glaring, her patience nearing its limits.

"Even the green one?"

"Even Beast Boy!" Raven answers sharply, inching Red X closer to the roof's edge.

"But he really is an idiot!" X exclaims, realizing that his captor might have truly meant what she had said.

"I know. I tell him that on almost a daily basis," Raven shrugs, "He saved my life once. I ended up in a coma instead of a coffin." She says almost as an afterthought. At that X doesn't respond, his brain processing the fact that the changeling is capable of complex thought processes that could save someone's life. He is about to open his mouth when Robin and Beast boy appear on the roof.

"It's about time" Raven quips. Robin smiles and puts a hand on her shoulder.

"Nice job, Rae. I'll cuff him and we'll take him in. Star had to take Cy back to the tower. Can you go talk to the police?" He asks as he walks towards the villain hanging upside-down in midair. Robin snaps the cuffs around the boy's hands; he removes the belt as well. Beast boy is standing next to Raven, a smile on his face and his mouth moving quickly.

"And you were like, 'not so fast'. BLAM! And threw glass like they were blades, and tossed him into that thing. But he hit you like BOOM! Then you PUNCHED him! But he threw you! And we were like 'AAAHHHH' and you got up like 'Awh Naw!' and now you're dangling him over a building. Dude. Raven. YOU ARE SO BADASS!"

Raven actually smiles at Beast Boy, appreciating his interpretation of the battle that had just ensued. Beast Boy is still running his mouth when Robin tells Raven to let X down. She immediately releases the power from him, and the black- clad teen hits the ground with a thud and a groan. The mask cracks again, this time, an edge falls off of it.

"Uh, Raven…" Says Robin, grabbing one of Red X's arms and the side of the mask in the other. "This isn't supposed to break."

"I didn't do anything you wouldn't do, Bird Boy." She replies with an eyebrow raised. And though Robin can't see it. He can feel it. Just as she can feel his disapproval at the statement and the implications. They both know what he wouldn't do. And that wasn't much. Beast boy grabs X's other arm and Robin hands the broken mask to Raven.

"Always a pleasure, Sunshine," Red X says as the two titans drag him away. Raven sighs and teleports down to the Jewelry store.


	4. Chapter 4

I'm slowly realizing that my description doesn't fit the story very well. Stay with me guys, you get two chapters in the next 24 hours even if it kills me.

* * *

Raven is sitting on the tower roof watching storm clouds roll over the bay. The wind whips her hair around her face, and chills her to the core. This night is much different than the night before. There is a rumble of thunder in the distance and the hero is thankful for her comfy civilian clothes as the wind picks up. In her hand covered in plaster she holds the broken piece of Red X's mask. She sighs as she lifts her other hand to her head, rubbing it delicately over the stitches over her eye. _'I can't believe I broke this. What else did I break?'_ She hears the door slide open and turns around. Robin looks at her, not surprised that Raven is here. He face is blank, but through their bond he can feel her swirling emotions. The transmission is dull tonight, with the medication the Cyborg gave her to suppress her powers. Her bones mend to quickly, healing them before they are set. The concussion makes it harder for her to control her emotions and therefore her powers.

"You okay?" He asks as he sits down. He looks down at her hands; they are cradling the mask between them. The cast on her right arm is hot pink, courtesy of Beat Boy and Starfire. It's a shocking sight, even more so is the fact that Raven didn't argue. She may have even smiled, but Robin chalks that up to the concussion. He takes the piece of the mask from her hands, holding it in his for only the second time since the suit was stolen. Robin hands it back as he fills the silence.

"He's going to be fine if that's what you're concerned about. That mask is supposed to absorb hits, it took yours. That's why he isn't more damaged. A broken nose and a few ribs are the worst of it." Raven nods, relieved that she didn't have to ask and relieved that she didn't do worse.

"I don't know what got into me," she says. "The violence was uncalled for."

"Raven, he's a villain, he's exceptionally unharmed in my opinion. You didn't banish him to another dimension. Rage didn't take over. And most importantly- you caught him. Nothing about that was unprofessional."

Raven sighs, _'He doesn't get it. Neither do I.' _She knows that she can't give words to what she is currently thinking. Robin speaks again, his anger seeping into Raven's pores.

"We still don't know who he is. They won't let me take off his mask. They did at the hospital, but put it back on before they brought him back to the cell." Bitter tone, clenched fists.

"I'm going to bed. Don't worry. You'll find out tomorrow during interrogation," She says bluntly, but not before grabbing one of his hand and giving it a comforting squeeze. She gets up and walks away. Robin sighs after the door slams shut, knowing that Raven won't be happy in the morning when he tells her that she is going to interrogation with him.

Raven is already in sweatpants when she gets to her room. The rain is now pattering at her window. With a complete lack of grace and caring she falls backwards onto her bed. She lands with something sharp digging into her back.

"What the hell…" She rolls off of it quickly. In the darkness of her room, Raven can't see much. But she can see the sharp contrast of her dark sheets with a semi- circular shape of white. She reaches over and flips on a lamp.

Lying in the center of her bed is the other part of Red X's mask. Raven stands up quickly, her head pounding and spinning. She looks around her room satisfied with not seeing anything out of place, she pulls out her communicator and calls Robin.

"What?" He asks, clearly in the process of getting into bed, a toothbrush hangs out of the side of his mouth.

"Did you leave something in my room?" Raven asks, staring at the almost- full mask on her bed. She can feel the smaller piece weighing down her pocket.

"No…" His face contorts in confusion; something that is mirrored in Raven's expression.

"Did you say Red X still had his mask on when they brought him back to jail?"

"Yes, the skull mask and everything- even with the chunk out of it. Why are you asking?"

"Just… Concerned." Raven looks around her room again, walking around to check corners.

"Raven, what is going on?" Robin asks. He spits out a mouthful of toothpaste.

"I'm not sure. But I think you should probably come over here."

"Alright." The communicator screen fades to static and Raven tosses it onto her bed.

All of the corners of her room seem to be clear. Three place left, classic boogey man places. The closet, under the bed, and behind the curtains. With a flash of lightening from outside, she sees no mysterious shadows in the curtains. She looks at her bed and says out loud.

"I'm not looking under there."

She backs away, towards the door. She avoids the desk, where her mirror sits; she can practically see her emotions' reflections in it. The concussion isn't helping their continuous nonsense. Raven takes a deep breath, calming herself. She doesn't know how the mask got there, but she will find out.

Raven takes another step back and a hand slinks around her waist, another around her mouth.

"I'm glad you didn't check under the bed. Though I would be glad to see you on top of it."

Raven tenses up, the all too familiar sleazy delivery gives him away, even without his voice modifier. It has an odd quality to it that Raven attributes to his broken nose.

"It's good to see you too, Sunshine. I would let you talk but we can't have you screaming just yet."

Raven almost laughs at the insinuation, but she can't quite judge his emotional state as she normally does during their encounters.

There is a knock at the door.

"Raven, open up," Robin says from the other side. Red X tightens his grip around Raven's waist. He whispers in her ear.

"Tell him you figured it out. Flowers from Starfire."

"It's okay, there were flowers all over my be. I was concerned but I sat a note from Starfire," Raven forces a small chuckle.

"Oh. Okay then. I'll see you in the morning." Robin says. His footsteps fade.

X hasn't replaced his hand over Raven's mouth. But his grip on her hasn't loosened.

"Good job. I didn't think you could lie that well."

Red X lets her go, Raven immediately takes a step froward and spins around. The thief stands in front of her, wearing something much akin to her pajamas, dark sweatpants and a t-shirt. The mask he has on is much like Robin's. He has a large white bandage over his nose.

"How did you get out of jail? How did you get here? What are you doing here?" All of the questions fly out of Raven's mouth before she can stop them. If she had the ability to take them back she would. Instead, she smacks her good hand over her mouth. He smiles- all teeth and full lips. Raven mentally shakes herself, knowing that he can see her staring.

"Curiosity killed the cat you know." His smile morphs seamlessly into a smirk. Raven takes a step back feeling that this tonight is one of the nights when Red X breaks things. _"And right now I think he might break me.'_ She thinks with a small shiver. He takes a large step forward, bringing his less than an inch away from Raven. They can feel the exchange of body heat between the small space. He towers over her, in his head he smiles, having never gotten to appreciate this fact in battle. He has seen more of her than anyone other than her teammates. She doesn't look scared, even though an escaped thief that she recent kicked the shit out of is standing in her bedroom. He smiles for real when he realized that she probably still could, though her arm is in a cast and she has stitches in her head.

"Nice stitches," He remarks, in almost the same way he had said when she was bleeding earlier.

"Yeah. Thanks for that," Raven replies, looking up at him with a glare. With that Red X actually laughs. Raven's eyebrows quirk at the sound, it isn't as grating without the mask. His voice in general isn't half bad.

"Why are you here?" Raven asks again, not breaking eye contact.

"I wanted to give you a reward, that being the other part of my mask. And to make sure my favorite titan wasn't seriously injured," He answers smoothly. Though he is wearing a mask, he feels uncomfortable with his regular one that is currently sitting in pieces on Raven's bed. He isn't sure if it's the way Raven is staring, or something else. She looks away before responding. And when she does it surprises him.

"I'm tired, you know this the second night in a row you've kept me up." Raven looks up at him again, and surprises him once more. "Are you all right?

"Uh... yeah. I'm good. I just broke out of jail after you single handedly kicked my ass, but I came back to see you. My mental stability may be a more off than usual, but I blame you for that."

"And why is that?" Raven asks.

"I'm still trying to figure that part out, Sunshine." He says with a sigh, reaching around Raven's waist once again. Raven is pulled closer to him, she puts up her good hand instinctively, pressing it against his chest. She can't position her head to glare at him, so she growls instead, out of confusion and anger.

"Get some sleep Raven," He says quietly, pressing a light kiss to the stitches on her forehead before teleporting away.


	5. Chapter 5

Sloppy boring chapter. Oh! I wanted to thank all of you guys for reading this and reviewing, you're all pretty much the best!

* * *

Raven stumbles to her bed in shock. Her cheeks are on fire and the rest of her body is tingling. She scoots the pieces of the mask under her pillow and without any distinct thought or feeling other than confusion, she falls asleep.

In her dream, if you could call it that, Raven has to deal with her rioting emotions.

Happy is dancing and singing something that she surely picked up from Starfire.

Timid is sitting against a tree, potentially crying.

Brave is threatening bodily harm, or hunting him down herself and showing him what a real kiss is.

Rude is muttering a string of curses in every language she knows.

Sloth is lying in the grass, her feet bare and dirty; she is asleep and drooling.

Rage is thinking of a way to get Brave and Rude to kill Red X.

Love is smiling wistfully.

Intelligence is silently taking in the chaos.

"ALL OF YOU SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN!" yells Raven as she shakes her mind clear. Nevermore silenced instantly. Her emotions circle up around her and they all take a seat.

"All right," she says, taking a deep breath and regarding her clones, "What is going on with you guys?"

Intelligence and Love make eye contact, Happy giggles, Rage grumbles, and Brave speaks up.

"Red X is an attractive son of a bitch," the green clad copy says with a big grin.

"You've got a crush!" Happy and Love squeal together. Timid starts crying again.

"As if you didn't already know. We all have for weeks!" Rude explains with her arms crossed.

Raven looks around, her eyes wide and mouth open. The gathered emotions nod in unison.

"I have a what?" She asks angrily. Intelligence, who has spent her time keeping her mouth shut, finally starts talking.

"It has come as a shock to all of us Raven. It's been growing silently over the past few months, beginning with your respect for his uncanny ability to drive you essentially up a wall. He visits you on patrol, asks you questing, though you don't answer, he shows you attention, and not to mention tonight."

From her position cross-legged on the ground, Raven lets herself fall backwards with a groan. She can't deny what her emotions are saying. And if they were wrong about the crush before, well they're right now.

Love looks over at her, concerned. "Don't worry Rae," She says, "I've got this."

Raven doesn't look up, but she puts her hands over her eyes. "That makes me feel sooo much better."

Happy giggles and Intelligence smiles knowingly. Raven closes her eyes and nevermore fades into darkness.

In what seems like only a few seconds of sleep, her communicator goes off. Raven rolls over, contemplating throwing the yellow object across the room. Instead she opens it. Robin's masked face appears on the screen. She ignores the fact that he seems extremely angry, she sets the communicator on her pillow and rolls over to face it.

"What time is it Wonder Boy?" She grumbles rubbing her eyes with her good hand.

"Red X escaped." He says bluntly. Raven snaps her head over to the communicator, eyes wide. Something Raven isn't good at is faking emotions, thankfully she doesn't have to show them.

"He what?" Raven asks in her normal monotone, giving it an edge. Robin shook his head

"He's gone. I need you to come with me to check things out."

"Let me get dressed, I'll meet you in the control room." Raven shuts the communicator and flips on her lamp. She gasps as she looks around her room.

"You have GOT to be kidding me!" She yells, not caring if any of her teammates hear her. On the floor around her bed are dozens of bouquets. Roses, lilies, and carnations in shades of pink red and purple are haphazardly piled around her room. One her pillow is a note, small letters scrawl across the paper that Raven knows to be her stationary.

_Can't let him get suspicious, can we? –X_

Raven blushes and vanishes the slip of paper into a dimension that she refers to as the 'junk dimension'. She tosses on her uniform, spotting another not on her desk. One that mimics Starfire's handwriting, Raven glances at it, only picking up something about 'pudding of wellness'. Raven wonders if it's actually a fake or not. There is a small bouquet of sunflowers next to it, and Raven guesses it really is from her teammate.

Raven arrives in the control room to see Robin on the computer, looking at surveillance tapes of X's prison cell. Robin takes a sip of his coffee and makes an vague gesture towards the other mug. She takes it, finding her favorite cup of tea. She shakes her _head 'I'm going to need more than tea today.'_

"Did you make a whole pot of coffee?" She asks, avoiding looking at the screen. Robin nods and Raven takes bot of the mugs to the kitchen- his for a refill and hers for coffee. When she returns, the clip is playing again. This time she watches as the villain messes with the lock of his cell and simply walks away, with a small salute to the camera. Robin grabs his mug from Raven, chugging down its contents.

"Ready?" He asks. Raven nods, finishing her cup as well. She takes his hand and teleports them to Jump City Jail.

"I don't know how he does it," the police chief says. His seems angry as well, but not in comparison to Robin.

"I can assure you that we will do our best to bring him back into custody," replies Raven. Robin is snooping around the cell. Raven and the Chief are leaning against the opposite wall, but with disposable cups of coffee. Raven is levitating her leader's cup near him. Presently he takes a sip and shakes his head.

"I don't know how he does it either, Sir. But like my teammate said, we will bring him to justice."

In her head, Raven smiles at the thought. _'Robin hasn't gotten close to catching Red X. But I caught him.'_ Raven stops to think about that. _'No, I caught him fair and square.'_ Raven shakes her head to clear her thoughts. The chief notices.

"Tired?" He asks with a grin. Raven nods.

"Extremely. Red X is a menace," she says angrily. Robin looks up at her, he rolls his eyes.

"Someone's moody tonight," he remarks.

"You do realize that this is the third night in a row that I haven't gotten sleep because of this thief? I also have my arm in a bright pink cast, 14 stitches in my forehead, and a lovely concussion. And this is all probably due to the fact that I tricked him the other night." Raven's voice is steady, though both men can feel the anger underneath. The head of police takes a step back while Robin takes one foreword.

"Raven?"

"What?"

"You need to calm down. Okay? Deep breaths." He places his hands on her shoulders. Raven takes a deep breath. It doesn't help. She's on edge, being here is wrong, she's lying to Robin and skirting her duties as a protector of the city.

"I'm going to go get some air," she says walking towards the exit, her coffee cup clenched in her good arm.


	6. Chapter 6

Red X is sitting in his apartment when his phone buzzes. He looks over at it; the alert reads that the titans area at the jailhouse. He chuckles.

"About time. I escaped from jail, broke into Titans Tower twice and robbed just about every florist in town."

He rolls over to look at his laptop, pulling up a video feed from the prison. Raven is talking to the chief, Robin walks over to her, when he places his hands on her shoulders something in X's stomach clenches. He watches as Raven leaves. Her hood is up so he can't see her face. He thinks back to her face tonight, tired and guarded, and how confused she looked as he left. The villain known as Red X, just X to his friends, runs to his closet and pulls on another one of his uniforms and emotionally prepares himself for a visit to his favorite titan.

Raven is siting on the steps of the jailhouse sipping her coffee. He cloak is wrapped around her, though there is no need. The clouds from earlier have moved on, leaving small puddles on the ground. The air is thick with moisture, and she can almost feel her stick straight hair frizzing. _'I just want to go home, Bird Boy isn't going to find anything.'_

Raven takes her free time to think about what happened earlier that night. _'Or yesterday, considering the time.'_ Her head spins when she thinks back to Red X's lips on her forehead; heat rises to her cheeks and the spot on her head tingles. The sensations are too much and Raven stands up abruptly, swaying as her vision goes black momentarily. Her ears are ringing. Only when her vision clears and she hears Robin yell does she realize that it isn't in her head. Raven looks up and in the distance she can see smoke rising. Robin slides open his communicator and calls the rest of the team as the two birds run towards the sirens.

A single fire truck is spraying water onto a burning building. The flames are all consuming, the heat and pressure bursting the glass of widows. The team arrives a few minutes after Raven and Robin.

"Oh, what shall we do, Friend Robin?" questions Starfire, her eyes wide with sadness. Robin searches the faces of his teammates before giving out the orders, though they all know. Fires are commonplace in this city.

"Okay Titans, Beast Boy and Cyborg, you two need to help with water. Star and Raven, I know this isn't a residential building, but I need you to search it just in case. Get out if anything goes wrong. I'll just… I'll find something to do," he says the last part dejectedly, after the last fire, the team refuses to let Robin do much anymore. Robin yells his signature Titans GO! And the team vanishes. He walks over to the truck, pretending to be occupied with something, he understand why he has to sit out. _'I'm only human,'_ he thinks to himself, _'with burn scars to prove it.'_ He rubs his arm and shoulder, where last time a burning support beam landed on him after he refused to leave the unstable building. He was the only one injured.

Beast Boy transforms into an elephant, a surprisingly cheerful green one at that. On the outside he seem awake, mostly due to his own loudness and intensified hearing. In his head though, he wishes he was still sleeping. _'That stupid alarm, one day I'm totally gonna disable it. Or try too. I bet Cy can. I'll challenge him to stankball and when I win he'll have to disable it…'_

Likewise, Cyborg isn't thrilled to be putting out a fire in an abandoned building. Under his breath he grumbles, but grins as Robin walks over.

"How's it going, Cyborg?" The dark haired boy asks, looking at the building with longing.

"Pretty good, the flame is under control. Or so it seems. And the girls haven't called or exited yet, so I'm sure everything's just fine." As Cyborg finishes his sentence another window shatters. The two boys exchange worried glances.

Raven and Starfire stay together as they search the building.

"You okay Star?" Raven asks as the alien coughs. Starfire begins to answer but starts to cough again, instead she nods.

"Do you need to go?" Raven questions, concerned. The entire team is run down from their last battle, and the Tamaranean is no exception. "I can check the last room alone. Don't worry, I'll be fine." Raven says as her friend's eyes widen is fear. But Starfire is confident in her friend.

"All right, friend Raven. I shall go and tell the others. I will be seeing you soon, yes?"

"Yeah, Star. I'll be out in a minute."

The alien flies away, leaving Raven to search the last room alone. The fire hasn't quite consumed this section of the building but it is close. The smoke is the worst part, though it doesn't bother her due to her demon heritage. Raven kicks down the door to the room, it is positioned in the back right corner of the third floor, faces an alleyway. There is nothing in the room and Raven silently thanks Azar for the fact.

As Raven turns to exit the room she feels the floor shake. _'This is not good,'_ she thinks as she runs down the hallway. She heads towards the stairs, willing herself to teleport. She groans as she realizes that the amount of medication in her system and the energy she used during the investigation of the jail has made it almost impossible.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" She shouts hoping the incantation will help. It doesn't all Raven feels is a slight pull on her mind, not the partial fade of reality that accompanies true teleportation. Raven curses and runs down the stairs. From three stories up, she can see the fire working it's way up the building, and to her luck, up the stairs as well. Though Raven knows she isn't invincible or even slightly immune to burns or fire, she decided to risk it regardless, charging down the stairs, in hopes of getting down them before the collapse. _'Shit'_ she thinks as she feels the building rumble once again. This time, she can feel the staircase give away.

Starfire exits the building covered in ash, Robin runs over to her.

"Are you okay Starfire?" He asks and throws his arm around her and leading her away from the building.

"I am fine. Friend Raven is searching the last room, due to my inability to breathe." Starfire smiles at Robin and hugs him.

"Dudes!" Beast Boy shouts, changing back into his humanoid form. Robin and Starfire look where the youngest member is pointing. Cyborg is running towards the building with his communicator open. As he reaches the entrance the building collapses.


	7. Chapter 7

Hey guys, I hope you don't hate me too much for the cliff and long break. So I'll give you a nice chapter, and try to fix all my plentiful grammatical mistakes! (On a more random note, the icons there when you're looking for fics are super distracting.)

Raven runs down the stairs, she's halfway between the third and second floor when the stairs really being to tremble. Her shin hurts from falling through a step right off the bat. The building was due for demolition already, _'this fire isn't helping stability.'_ Raven pulls out her communicator, still going down the stairs. She hits a button randomly and Cyborg's face appears.

"Hey Rav…" His face pales when she sees her panicked expression. He can see that her stitches have reopened, there's a small trickle of blood running down her face. When Raven hears his voice she takes a deep breath, she decides that she doesn't have time to waste on breaking it softly.

"Cy, I can't use my powers. I'm still on the second floor." Raven isn't looking at the communicator, Cyborg only sees flashes of her faces and mostly flames and falling debris.

"Raven. You're gonna be fine. I'm coming for you," and with that Cyborg starts running for the building, keeping his communicator open, snatching glances between the building and the screen.

"Whether I make it out or not, I do love all of you," Raven says, jumping down three steps and landing with a grunt, she tries to use her arm to brace herself, but only ends up hurting her broken hand. The cast hitting the floor sounds like a gunshot. This time Cyborg gets a good look at her face. And when he does, he almost wishes that he hadn't seen it. Hopelessness, it's like her birthday all over again. He isn't sure they can go get her a second time. Though every one of the team would go to hell and back for her if need be.

Raven sees the look on her friend's face and knows it must mirror her own. They're thinking the same things; about the last fire, when Robin was in the hospital for months after a building collapsed on him, about Terra sacrificing herself in the cave, getting crushed to death, about losing Raven once to a fiery abyss, and the proverbial trip to the underworld.

She hits the second floor landing and stumbles, she drops her communicator. Raven does a roll and ends up back on her feet and running towards the stairs. The flames are everywhere and she dodges holes in the floor. A support beam falls in front of her, Raven narrowly dodges it, but it takes out a few steps with a crash. She looks down through the hole; the entirety of the bottom floor is on fire.

Raven looks up as the building starts to move again. The sorceress jumps over the gap and tries to teleport again. It doesn't work.

"Shit!" As she lands, her leg breaks through the wood of the floor. She hears the tell- tale sign of a true building collapse.

"Need a hand?" comes a metallic voice from behind her. But before Raven gets the chance to respond or turn around, Red X grabs her good hand and teleports them out of the building.

Outside Cyborg reaches the threshold of the building, he opens his mouth to say something but the communicator is static, he hears Beast Boy yell something in the background, and the building collapses. The four titans stare at the building in shock. In the three seconds it took to completely collapse, even Cyborg had frozen in his attempt to get inside. As it truly hits the ground Cyborg is enveloped in a cloud of soot and smoke.

"RAVEN!" he shouts. In his hand the communicator that had just shown his friend's face is now just static.

Cyborg shouts again but before he can charge into the rubble to find her, he feels a hand on his shoulder. He turns to see Starfire with tears in her large green eyes. The rest of the team is behind her. Beast boy with his mouth agape, probably thinking of Terra and losing another teammate in almost the same way. Robin looks tortured and angry, his mouth is a straight line. They all exchange somber glances and from Robin comes a less than enthusiastic "Titans Go."

Cyborg runs forward, tracking Raven's communicator. Beast Boy morphs into a rat and starts crawling into small spaces. Starfire begins lifting large pieces of rubble out of the way. Robin turns to talk to the police and firefighters gathered.

"We'll need an ambulance. One of our team member is trapped in there somewhere and would appreciate your help finding her," Robin looks around at the shocked members of the force gather around him. All of them are staring past the hero to the smoldering ruins of the building. Almost as if on cue, they nod simultaneously and start making their ways towards the building. An ambulance siren is heard in the distance.

A few short miles away Red X and Raven land in the hallway of an apartment. Raven collapses to the ground. Not unconscious, shocked in every way shape and form a person can be shocked. Her rescuer looks down at her and smiles, though she can't see it. She's got her eyes closed and her mouth slightly open. Red X pulls out his door key and unlocks it then picks Raven up.

"You okay over there?" He asks. With the voice modifier turned off she can hear the concern over the pounding of blood in her head.

"I'm going into shock. Put me down." She demands her voice strong though he can barely hear it. Moments later he sits Raven down on something soft. She assumes it's a bed or a couch.

"You look worse than I though you would," X says. Looking down at the half awake titan. He followed the titans to the fire, to supervise in essence, and when the alien girl came out as the building started shaking, Red X climbed through a third floor window and saw Raven almost get taken out by a support beam. He heard the conversation with the robot too. _'I should have probably taken her to a hospital or to her friends. This was a bad idea._' Raven is a battered mess of ash, forming bruises, and blood. Her leg is the worst, from where she fell though the floor, it's bleeding onto his sheets and he can see large splinters. Her cast is cracked and the stitches in her forehead have pulled out, stretching her skin is odd angles.

"How did you find me?" Raven asks after a few minutes of silence. Her eyes are still closed.

"I was going to visit you at the precinct, to ask if you got the flowers," he chuckles and her brow wrinkles. "I followed you to the fire and when you didn't come out I decided to see what was taking you so long. Do I get a reward? I gave you one for kicking my ass." As he is talking, he sees small tendrils of energy flowing from Raven's body. He decided not to ask.

"I got the flowers, you went a bit overboard. And I don't thank you get anything, maybe a free pass from jail in your case."

"I could probably use one of those."

The black wisps disappear and Raven sighs. She opens her eyes and looks up at him.

"I need a doctor. Or I may possibly go into a coma"

"A coma!" Red X jolts off the bed in shock. Raven on the other hand is tired.

"So my body can heal itself. Thanks to you I haven't had a decent night's sleep in days, and because of that my powers are weak, which is why I wasn't able to teleport out of the building. If you hadn't been there, I surely would have died. So I thank you for that. But unless you want my lifeless form floating somewhere within your apartment for a few days and a huge unnecessary funeral for my missing body, I really need to go to a hospital." Raven closes her eyes again and brings her hand to her head, running her fingers over the stitches. X stands there in slight amazement having heard the most amount of words out of Raven's mouth at one time. Red X shakes his head.

"I wouldn't mind having you here for a while." The smirk is implied and he winks, Raven doesn't see it, but she must know because she growls.

"Okay, hospital. But why a coma?"

"It isn't a coma, but a very deep meditative trance. Coma is easier to grasp."

"I think you just need a nap or something. And a shower, when was the last time you bathed? We could shower together."

"You're avoiding the fact that I need medical assistance."

"I am." X says. He pauses to think. "Stay here."

Raven opens her eyes and raises her eyebrows until they almost disappear.

"What?"

"Stay here and do your coma thing," says Red X with a shrug.

"Why?"

"I saved you life you know."

"Yes, and what does that have to do with me staying here?"

"I'm not quite sure. Can it be my reward?" he asks hopefully.

"You're a thief and an escaped felon," responds Raven with a glare, the movement tugs at her stitches.

"That saved your life, and brought you flowers," he says with a flourish.

Raven opens her mouth to retort but Red X places a hand over her mouth. And with his other hand he unceremoniously pulls his mask off. Raven, though sleep deprived and in an unreasonable amount of pain, does believe that this is the second time that Red X has rendered her completely incapable of speech. In the darkness of her room, she couldn't make out much more than a mop of hair and a toothy smile. But in the light of his apartment, Raven comes truly face to face with this boy. And he is a boy, her age, maybe a few years older. Dark brown hair hangs over dark blue eyes. There are bruises around his eyes and it takes Raven a moment to realize why. He still has the Band-Aid on his nose, it's swollen and bruised as well. The lips that Raven had a brief encounter with aren't smiling this time, but they look even better.

"Can you say no to this face?" Red X even pouts before moving his hand to let her respond. He like that look in her eyes, the extremely interested edge to them. Raven sighs again, though he can't decipher what it means.

"I'll stay. Only if I can send a message to my team." Raven keeps her eyes closed as she answers. Red X does a small fist pump.

"Do you need to call them?" He asks, pulling out a cell phone from his belt. Raven sits up in the bed, and shakes her head at the phone.

"No. And you do realize that I will be aware of everything you do while I am in this coma. My powers can still lash out while I'm in this state."

"I wouldn't go to the trouble of saving you if I was just going to kill you. And I have a spare bedroom you can float in. And why did you say float?"

"Thank you. You'll see. And shut up for two minutes." Raven says sternly, and he does confused. Raven crosses her legs and closes her eyes again. She uses her link with Robin, glad to find that it is working.

_Robin, you aren't going to find my body in that rubble._

Five miles away, Robin is rolling over a large chink of wall when he stops abruptly, looking around him. _The other titans stare. Raven! What.. How... What?_

_I'm okay. Well as alive as I can be. I'm elsewhere, I don't know how I got here exactly, but I'm going to have to heal myself before I can come back. I'll be a few days._

_Jesus Christ, Raven. We though you were dead. Am I losing my mind?_

_No, and I can prove that I'm okay. You guys will get my belt on the doorstep tomorrow._

_I believe you, be safe._

And without a goodbye the conversation ends. Robin goes back to searching, he decided not to tell the team, remembering the last time he thought someone what back from the dead. Cyborg walks over.

"You okay, man?" he asks, putting a large hand on his leader's shoulder.

"I guess, I don't know what just got into me."

Raven opens her eyes to see Red X watching her intently, leaning very close to her face. She blinks.

"Uhm. Stop that." She says abruptly. X leans back with a grin on his face.

"So about that shower…"

"I can still leave you know."

"I would like to see you walk with you leg looking like that." The villain replies with a grimace. Raven follows his line of sight. Raven grimaces as well.

"If I'm getting a shower it will be alone."


	8. Chapter 8

I have no excuses for how long this has taken. Or how crap this is. Sorry. I've been watching a sock puppet cat sing a song from the fairly odd parents. I can't. Weird chapter and I changed the summary. I don't own anything. This has been a public service announcement. Here's your chapter.

* * *

Red X watches as Raven closes her eyes, her entire body seems to tense up. He waves his hand in front of her face and she doesn't flinch. X reaches out to touch her, but changes his mind. The whole situation right now is surreal for him. The fact that he even risked bringing her to his place, and not to mention the fact that he will never be able to get the blood and soot out of his sheets. When Raven opens her eyes, she flinches at his closeness.

The banter they put on is almost comical, they're both a bit uncomfortable with the situation. They can throw words back and forth all day, which is probably what's keeping Raven from killing him or attempting to walk out.

"If I'm getting a shower it will be alone."

"You wound me," Red X winks and Raven doesn't say a word. "Alrighty then." He says, reaching down to pick her up. Raven tenses in the moment before he touches her, and flinches when he does.

"Are you okay?"

"Obviously not. And I don't like people touching me"

The rest of the short journey to the bathroom is silent. He sits her on the toilet seat, then looks around the bathroom at a loss for what to do next.

"Do you have a hammer?" She asks as though they were discussing the weather. X blanches until she waves her plaster- covered arm in the air. He nods and leaves the room to go find one.

"Are you always like this?" He yes from the kitchen.

"Slightly anti-social, angry, and blunt?" She calls back.

"Um… yeah, we can go with that." He finds a hammer under the sink.

"Yes," she says nonchalantly. Though Red X reflects that it is common knowledge.

He walks back into the bathroom to see Raven only in her leotard, her boots and cape on the floor. Her belt is in her hand, she holds it up to him. He stares at it.

"I'll trade you," she says grabbing the hammer and handing his the belt. She stands up, and walks over to the counter with a wince as she places pressure on her leg. X leans back against a wall, alternating his eyes between Raven and her belt. She stands on her good leg, with her casted arm on the counter, she takes a deep breath, and in the mirror X thinks he sees her smile a bit before she brings the hammer down. With a loud crack, the cast breaks open.

"Not bad" He says with an impressed laugh, Raven raises the right corner of her mouth in a grin. "So how are you going to do the shower?"

Raven looks at him using the mirror, "Can I borrow a t- shirt?" she asks.

X nods and leaves the room. He can hear movement and the shower curtain being pulled. In his room he beings to search for a shirt that could be called clean by the stretch of the imagination.

In the bathroom Raven sits herself down in the bathtub part of the shower. She pulls the curtain and takes off her leotard and throws it out of the tub. In her underwear and bra she can see patches of purple blooming on her gray skin, her leg is a mess. She can hear Red X rummaging around in the next room, 'If he's anything like the guys on the team there is nothing clean in that room.' She smiles and sighs, strangely okay with the situation that she is in. She blames it on shock, and curiosity.

Raven unhooks her bra and tosses it onto the floor as well, just as X walks in.

"It that lace?" he asks, almost dropping the clothes he grabbed for Raven. He goes over to pick it up. In her haste at 3am, Raven grabbed whatever bra was closest, it just so happened to be this one. A white with black lace Victoria's Secret number that Speedy got her for the Secret Santa exchange last year, the gift included matching underwear. The ensemble is surprisingly comfortable, so Raven didn't think twice about pulling on the bra before going to the jail.

"Surprised?" She asks from the tub. "I need a towel too."

He leaves again and Raven pulls off her underwear, and leans out of the tub before hiding them inside a sleeve of her uniform. Now completely undressed, and slightly uncomfortable with her state in the presence of a boy, she turns on the water, flinching at the cold. Red X walks in, thinks about getting in the shower, considers his potential death, drops the clothes, and leaves.

X looks around his sloppy apartment and starts picking things up. Dirty dishes in the sink, trash in the garbage and clothes thrown into his room. The clean up takes longer than he thought it would, and as he closes the dishwasher, he hears the floor creak. He turns around to see Raven, with the sweatpants in her hands and her wet hair making wet spots on the collar of his shirt. Her face is blushed from the shower and potentially the quick look X gives her.

X looks straight up at the ceiling and bites his lip. _'Oh god, I will never unsee that. Is this what all superheroes look like on their days off? I am definitely on the wrong side here.'_

The silence lasts. With Raven challenging him to say something and Red X struggling to not say anything. Finally X looks back at Raven, who is casually leaning against a wall, arms crossed, and a dangerous grin on her face. The hold eye contact until Raven tosses the sweatpants at him. He catches them easily and laughs.

"Someone needs a nap. Come on," he says leading her down a hallway, past his room and into another. It's small and painted a blinding orange, there is no bed, only a mattress in one corner. Raven almost laughs as she walks in.

"Classy," she remarks, looking around. There are two large windows on the wall opposite the door, the blinds are open and reveal downtown at a high elevation. Her leg aches as she walks over to look down.

"This is an expensive apartment," she says and looks at her host.

He nods, "You can't tell from the inside. And those sheets are probably the cleanest things in this whole place."

"That's comforting." Raven actually smiles. X blinks.

"You should smile more, Princess."

Raven shrugs, with the motion Red X sees the hem of his shirt rise up higher on her leg.

"Stop staring," she says looking straight at him. X raises his arms in false surrender.

"It's not my fault you've decided to not wear pants, okay?"

"Touché," replies the sorceress as she eases herself onto the edge of the bed. The thief can't see anything other than the cut on her leg. He walks towards her and kneels down, touching the edge of her calf. He doesn't notice that she didn't flinch.

"Is that bone?" He asks and gently touches the wound.

"I doubt it, but if you keep prodding you might get there."

"Sorry. You know, I always thought you'd bleed a color other than red."

Red X looks up at Raven, who has an odd look on her face. But she doesn't say anything. Instead she pulls he leg away and drops her belt into his hand once again.

"You're a thief."

"Yes, captain obvious. And a good one at that"

"Are you any good at returning things?"

"What?"

"Would you like to play a bit of a trick on my team?"

X stops to think about this, in his mind a little yellow flag goes off. He raises a brow in question.

"Go play ding dong ditch, but leave this on the doorstep."

As he opens his mouth to agree, he pauses. "Wait, You guys have a front door?"

Raven ignores the question. "Can you do it tomorrow?"

Red X nods again and Raven smiles lightly. Quietly she leans forward and kisses him on the cheek. As her lips pull away it makes a light sound. Red X freezes, his eyes wide as Raven pulls back and scoots further onto the bed. She closes her eyes and lies down, she breathes her mantra, and in moments she is floating above the guest 'bed'.

X stands up, pressing his hand to his cheek, noting that he wouldn't be surprised if her lips had left a burn on his face. He touches her hand though he knows she is aware of it on some level. A tendril of energy wraps around his wrist, but disappears as quickly as it came.

"It's like The Exorcist in here," he mutters and closes the door.


	9. Chapter 9

Hey everyone, time for a PSA. I had my appendix removed! I decided it was best not to write while I was jacked up on Vicodin but mostly I've felt like total poo and haven't left my bed. So I would like to apologize for the super long wait and here's the new chapter!

* * *

Robin isn't exactly pacing. At least not pacing in the way normal people pace. The teenage superhero doesn't pace in a small space. No; he paces the entire tower. And what the other members of the tower find worse then the constant sound of footsteps is when he stops. He stops to tinker with things- the refrigerator, the computer, the elevator, the vault, he might even stop to work out. But then it's back to walking around the tower.

Cyborg and Starfire are sitting at the table, exhausted from searching the remains of the collapsed building, and worried about not finding a body, or anything other than a busted communicator.

"What if Raven did in fact teleport?" questions Starfire quietly, trying her best not to alert their leader. Though from the silence, she determines that he is in the basement. Cyborg shrugs, not removing his head from his hands.

"I can't pick up any trace of her. Not even in her belt, that thing has a tracking device too. All of us have a backup."

Starfire pouts and takes a deep breath. She looks up towards the ceiling, willing her tears not to fall. She is exhausted, from the fire as well as her almost constant crying. Her powers have even dulled from the sadness.

"Please excuse me, I am going to bed," Starfire announces and quickly exits the room. Cyborg shakes his head at the alien's exit. He realizes that the team is currently in shambles; with Starfire slipping into depression, Beast Boy holed up in his room, and Robin pacing like it's his new job. The robotic teen looks up as he hears footsteps grow closer. Robin enters the room in sweatpants and sits next to Cyborg.

"If I tell you something, will you promise not to tell the others?" Robin asks seriously. Cyborg resists the urge to roll his eyes and instead nods.

"I think Raven's alive. I don't really have solid proof and the proof I have will make me sound crazy. She contacted me through our bond."

"She WHAT? When?" Cyborg jumps out of his seat, his mechanical parts blinking and human parts twitching in agitation. Robin throws up his hands to quite his teammate.

"Shhh. You'll wake the others. She said we're supposed to get her belt tomorrow. I don't know how. But that's what she said."

It's Cyborg's turn to pace, only around the kitchen table. Robin can almost hear the gears turning in his head.

"I believe you man. I don't know what crazy shit you're on but I believe you. This whole thing is a mess." Cyborg storms out of the room without another legible word. Robin sighs loudly, hoping that their friend comes home soon. _'I don't know what I'm on either,'_ he thinks as he heads back to his room.

The next morning Red X wakes up, barely. As he rolls over to get more comfortable something cold and hard digs into his side. He sits up quickly, almost rolling off his bed. Looking down he sees Raven's belt where he left it, haphazardly thrown onto the mattress before he went to bed. He chuckles, embarrassed and looks to his clock. It reads 7:58.

"Time for breakfast then," he grumbles and rolls out of bed. Instead of heading directly for the kitchen, he turns the other way and travels down the hallway to the room where he left Raven. He hasn't gone back in since she started floating. Mostly due to the fact that her powers decided to latch onto him last time. He makes a mental note not to touch the sorceress as he pushes open the door. The blinds are still open and the soft rays of morning sun pour in. Raven hasn't moved, her body still floating above the mattress. Red X forgets his prior note to stay away and inches closer to the bed. Her hair dried overnight but is still stick straight and the tips of her purple locks graze the top of the mattress.

"Good morning Princess. I'd ask if you wanted coffee but it seems as though you're still possessed." He laughs at his own joke.

Now within arm's reach, X stops and looks at the girl suspended in midair. Some of her minor bruises have healed, including the ones that had covered her arm that the cast had concealed. The dark circles under her eyes have disappeared as well. X shakes his head in amazement at her recovery.

"I wish I could do that," he grumbles rubbing his still bandaged nose. He tilts his head slightly, the shirt he lent her is big, much too big; it hangs off her body, pulled down by gravity, and leaves a gap between the cloth and the bare skin of her legs. If he takes a step to the left he could see up the shit. But with the memory of the black power wrapping around his wrist still fresh in his mind, he turns around and leaves the room.

Once in the kitchen, Jump City's most elusive thief makes a cup of coffee and has a bowl of cereal. Despite the catatonic houseguest that probably needs some sort of supervision, Red X leaves the house. In jeans and two belts hidden under another dirty shirt, he locks the door behind him and hoists a large bag of laundry over his shoulder. In the elevator he gets a dirty look from an older businessman that lives on the 16th floor. X's only encounter with the gray haired man giving him the evil eye was three months ago. The teen made the mistake of dropping a milkshake on the older man's shoes. X smiles and waits quietly as the elevator goes down 15 more floors. The businessman hurries off the lift, and X exits slowly, walking in the direction of his bike.

When Raven mentioned that it was an expensive apartment, she wasn't wrong. And he wasn't lying when he said that those sheets were the cleanest things in the apartment. The building he leaves is one of the nicest complexes in Jump, and he chose it for a reason. They don't ask questions. As a member of the underbelly of the city, he knows almost half of the residents from stealing for them and the other half because he steals from them. He doesn't keep his fancy equipment there, but with a teleportation belt, it isn't hard to get everywhere in the city within a moment's notice. But he does keep a perfectly normal motorcycle in the garage.

Loading the laundry onto the small sport bike is a hassle and he sighs in frustration as it falls off again. Leaving the overstuffed bag on the ground he pulls out his call phone and punches an all too familiar number.

"It's not even noon yet ass hole," A gruff voice answers.

"Come pick me up" demands X with and eye roll.

"And why would I do that?"

"I need a car. It's laundry day Johnny."

The voice on the other end of the receiver groans.

"You don't need to do laundry. It's not like you're getting laid on a regular basis."

Red X coughs. Another groan from Johnny.

"I'll be there in 5 minutes."

Now standing in front of the building, Red X waits for his 'friend' to arrive. Within minutes a black mustang pulls up and X gets in. Waiting inside the fairly new car is a very large and slightly terrifying man of 24, who also happens to be one of Jump City's favorite havoc- causers.

"How's my favorite metal head?" X asks as the car pulls away from the curve.

"Better than you apparently," answers Johnny Rancid. He pauses and surveys his passenger. "Jail time and a nose job? Busy week my friend, Titans causing you problems?"

"Just the one. The scariest of them all."

"Raven then?" Johnny chuckles and glances at X's broken nose again. X ignores Johnny, choosing to instead to stare out the window.

"This isn't the way to the Laundromat," X comments when Rancid turns left.

"No, it's the way to my house. You can borrow the car, but I need my bike first."

"You could have borrowed mine, it was in the garage." At Red X's comment Johnny laughs.

"As if I would be caught dead on your crotch rocket. That isn't even a real bike. The other one maybe, but I don't want the Titan's thinking I'm you."

"I doubt they would, look at you." X smirks as his friend runs a red light. Horns blare behind them, but no sirens. They get to Johnny's house within minutes and instead of getting out, X crawls over the center console. Through the open window Johnny smacks him, drawing a shout.

"Do that again and I'll do worse than kill you," he growls. At that X only raises an eyebrow.

"I won't ask. I'll bring it back tomorrow okay?"

The boys exchange a handshake and Red X drives off.

Two hours and 8 loads of laundry later, X is driving towards Titan's Tower. After two hours of contemplation, the thief has no idea how to deliver the belt that is now sitting on the passenger seat of the car. He mutters aloud.

"How in hell am I supposed to do this? Leave it there or hand it to one of them?"

He pulls the car over on the side of the road. There is no bridge to the island, but there is a large mailbox and a red button that looks like a crosswalk sign. X gets out of the car, keeps the engine running, makes sure his belt is concealed, and grabs Raven's belt off the passenger seat. The teenager walks up to the mailbox and button; he throws caution to the wind and hits the button.

An alarm goes off inside Titan's Tower.

"Uh… guys. What is that?" asks Beast Boy, the video game controller he was just using hits the floor.

Cyborg looks up confused, "I think it's the doorbell."

"We have a doorbell?" he replies in disbelief. Cyborg nods, pressing buttons on the interface in his arm. On the television a video feed pops up. On the screen they see a brown haired boy looking around expectantly.

"Hello?" he calls. Beast Boy and Cyborg both flinch at the sound. Cyborg answers.

"Titan's Tower, you're talking to Cyborg. What can I help you with man?"

Red X looks around, trying to trace the sound, his face disappears off screen momentarily; he makes a small _'oh'_ upon finding the speaker.

"I have something for you guys actually. I think I'm supposed to give it to Robin?" he answers. _'I'm just going to pretend that I don't know anything. Nothing at all. Don't be a dick. You're just a civilian. It's not like you kick their asses on a regular basis. Ding dong ditch, with the added potential of sudden death."_

Cyborg hollers for Robin, who walks into the main room unamused.

"Can I help you?" Robin asks. Red X resists the urge to taunt him and instead raises Raven's belt into the view of the camera.

"I brought you guys a present from a mutual friend," he replies. _'So much for not being a dick.'_

Beast Boy falls over the couch. Cyborg's mouth almost unhinges. Robin shakes his head in disbelief.

"Cy, go get him," Robin orders. The video feed cuts off as Cyborg walks away.

Outside X hears static and takes that as his cue to ditch. He drops the belt on top of the mailbox. He runs back to the car that he left idle, and drives off quickly.

When Cyborg gets outside the kid is gone. He groans and grabs Raven's belt off the mailbox and turns around. _'You have gotta be kidding me! That twerp. Robin is gonna kick his ass.'_ Cyborg walks back slower than he thought possible and when he arrives in the main room he tosses the belt to Robin.

"Your friend left, probably got scared off. Here's your proof. I'll trust it." He doesn't stop walking to talk; instead he goes to find Beast Boy, who has disappeared.

Robin stares at the belt for a moment before tinkering with it. He pulls off one of the gems, the one that contains Raven's back up tracker. The wires inside are pulled out and twisted in the shape of a heart. Robin shakes his head, knowing that only Raven would be sick enough to pull this stunt. He tosses the belt aside and leaves the main room as well to search for Starfire.


	10. Chapter 10

Thanks for all the reviews. Ugh. I love all of you. I hope you don't mind if I don't answer them, because I know that's a thing. For those of you that are wondering where I'm going with this… I don't know yet. _Sorry. _And also DAMN I did not realize how long this took to update.

* * *

Red X drives through Jump City, warily glancing in the rearview mirror to see if anyone is tailing him. He even stops for groceries on the opposite side of the city as opposed to the place only two blocks down from his apartment. It's a small store in a residential area; he parks the car and grabs a cart, silently pushing it down isles crowded with housewives shopping for families. He stops to grab an item here or there, going up every food- packed lane, occasionally he receives sidelong glances from customers that must frequent the store, or people that are surprised at the boy filling up his cart. _'Next time I decide to bug the titans I'll have to do a much better job. They didn't even put up a chase.' _The task at hand however distracts him from his disappointment at the Titan's reaction to his 'prank'. X sighs and grabs a box of sugarcoated cereal and another that looks mildly healthy. The cart is almost full and X mentally reminds himself not to wait that long to shop or do laundry again. His phone buzzes in his pocket.

"Hello?"

"You done yet?" It's Johnny.

"Mostly, I'm getting groceries. Why?" Red X picks up a container of Koolaid and tosses it into the cart.

"I may have mentioned you doing laundry to J. She wants to come to lunch with us," over the phone the biker sounded almost apologetic, something that doesn't often occur. X lets out a guttural groan, drawing attention from other patrons.

"I assume that means I have no choice," X runs his free hand through his hair in frustration.

"Not in hell, Red."

"I'm going to kick your ass the second I lay eyes on you Rancid. I can't believe you told her. Shit! She doesn't expect me to bring anyone does she?"

"No. I mean maybe? But this is your fault man. You insinuated a girl! Or a guy, I never know with you."

"Johnny, I've changed my mind. I'm going to kill you."

Johnny chuckles grimly over the phone and hangs up. X throws his phone into the cart in anger. He decided that shopping is done for now. Grateful that he hadn't yet gotten to perishable items, he checks out and loads his bags of food into the car.

Ten minutes later Red X pulls up outside Johnny's house. It's an actual house, surprisingly enough, and not in the worst part of town. It's small and old, but the reason Rancid even considered it is the garage in the back yard. It's bigger than the house, and newer. Johnny fixes and tricks out any vehicle, for anyone, and his services don't come cheap. But he is the best in town, X glances down at the dashboard of the mustang, there are plenty of buttons that he would like to press, just to see what would happen.

He gets out of the car and leaves his things inside, knowing that there's no way that either of them cooked. X rings the doorbell for only the second time that he has been friends with Johnny. Normally he teleports or storms right in, but behind the door is something not even he, Red X- one of the most elusive villains in all of Jump, wants to face. He hears the door handle turn and he flinches mentally, but plasters a smile on his face.

The girl that opens the door is frowning slightly; she surveys the boys standing on the front step, her pink eyes regarding him closely. Her hair is bright pink and in sloppy pigtails, not her normal pointed ones. The street clothes she has on suit her much better then the black and purple uniform she used to wear.

"Hey Jinx, wanna let me in?" he says with the smile still on his face.

"Hold it right there," she says putting a hand on his shoulder as he tries to walk inside. "You never ring, also what the hell is wrong with your face? And I don't mean the new nose."

"Look, I've had a long week and I do not need to deal with you," he answers defiantly and crosses his arms.

"Ooohhh, someone's had a bad week. You poor baby. Don't act like I can't see that sass a mile away. You're fine." Jinx smiles and punches X on the shoulder, he pouts and keeps his arms crossed. The girl rolls and pulls him into the house. The door closes behind them and X grabs the girl and throws he over his shoulder.

"X! You big jerk, put me down!" she hits him on the back, but otherwise doesn't struggle. They arrive in the kitchen, where Johnny is sitting on a counter with a beer in his hand. Red X drops his friend on the floor. She lands on her feet with a smirk and catches the bottle that Johnny throws at her; she proceeds to sit on the floor up against the counter. X takes a seat at the table, spinning it around to face the others.

"I don't understand why you guys don't use this perfectly good table," he says, opening his own drink that was already at his spot. The other two shrug in unison and Jinx answers.

"You're one to talk, I can't remember the last time we even saw the top of your kitchen table. Speaking of, it's been a long time sine I've seen you. Any news?" Her eyes grow wide in anticipation of a story.

"Well I already know he spilled the beans," X looks pointedly at Rancid, "By the way _friend_, remind me to kill you later for that."

Johnny shrugs. "It's not like she wouldn't have found out eventually. I was gonna ask earlier but I was too distracted by your horrible disfigurement. So spill for real, Red, or she'll take it out of you the hard way." Johnny nudges Jinx softly with his leg; she smiles menacingly and snaps her fingers, producing a small pink spark.

"I hate both of you," Red X deadpans. He takes a long drink and prepares to spin a mildly believable tale. Anything but the truth will do, for two reasons: either they will believe the story, or they won't. And both options will have serious repercussions, from his two friends, and not to mention the heroine that is currently comatose in his apartment. But instead of flat out lying, telling vague truths will do.

"I've known her for awhile. Well, not known her, but known of her. I've gone out of my way to see her a few times."

Red X thinks of the times he's seen Raven on night watch and decided to interrupt her: the night he robbed a convenience store for a bag of chips, when he stole someone's border collie, he used to watch when she and the alien princess would patrol afterwards, and the night she winked at him. _That night was a turning point, clearly_. X shakes his head at himself and looks over at his friends; Johnny looks mostly bored, Jinx is clearly excited- probably glad to hear that he stopped chasing after every girl he sees.

"So it is serious? Do I get to meet her?" asks Jinx practically bursting with excitement.

X shakes his head, "No. At this point, it isn't anything. We're friends."

Jinx frowns and the doorbell rings. She gets up and in minutes comes back with boxes of Chinese food. She tosses out the boxes of rice.

"We got you some kind of spicy chicken," she looks at the box, "Szechwan," she says and tosses him another box. X catches this one as well and digs in.

"Good choice," he get up and hand out another round of drinks. Jinx is using chopsticks to eat her noodles; the boys stick to forks.

"Are we gonna get to see this one?" Johnny asks in between bites of rice.

"No."

"Why not?" Jinx whines, "It's not like we're any weirder than you!"

"You are both obviously ex criminals, okay? I know I'm still a bad guy, but that's the beauty of the mask."

"We aren't anymore though, I was even an honorary titan! Hell, I still have my communicator. It's not my fault I was born looking like this. I can't exactly change the color of my eyes and skin. I'm sure if Raven were to give up being a goody goody, she'd have the same problem looking like a normal human too," Jinx glares at Red X and he hold up his hands.

"Jinx, I know. I'm sorry. I just… I don't know. Okay?" he sighs in defeat. _She is impossible._ They finish eating and talk about things other than Red X's mystery girl, as Johnny now puts it.

It's close to three when X finally leaves. He teleports his bags into his apartment and goes to say goodbye. In the living room Red X bumps fists with Johnny and hugs Jinx and pulls on of her pigtails.

"Stay out of trouble," says Johnny with an eye roll.

"Ha, I'll try. And I'll ask her if she wants to come over with me one day. How about that?" He says, directs the question at Jinx, who beams. He salutes and teleports away.


	11. Chapter 11

I am the worst. I'm going to make a schedule and stick to it (not really) but I'll try. Plot. Moving. Kind of. Slowly, very slowly. Slug like. Sloth like. I know this has been boring as of late. I know. I'm sorry. Interesting things next? Maybe.

* * *

Red X arrives in his apartment on top of a bag of laundry, the soft surface throws him off and he tumbles to the floor. He stays slumped on the floor, in a mix of relief and exhaustion. He kicks off his shoes and sighs. The laundry and bags of food are scattered across the mostly clean apartment in awkward places, a few bags have turned over and dumped their contents. X gets up slowly and walks to the kitchen, leaving his laundry bags and shoes haphazardly by the door but grabbing some of the grocery bags. He makes a mental list of things he still needs while rummaging through the refrigerator. He finds a pizza box and though he's just eaten, he checks a slice for mold and bites into it. He throws a few slices in the microwave and apart from it's soft humming the apartment is quiet. X walks down the hall to the guestroom, pizza in hand.

The door open with a creak, the floor is covered with soft shadows. The room is empty. The boy drops his half- eaten pizza, turns, and runs down the hall.

_'Not a word, she left. No goodbye? I knew this was going to happen. Damn it, the titans are going to be here any second!'_

He heads straight for the door, and trips over a discarded laundry bag, landing face fist on the floor, cursing.

"Where's the fire?" Comes an amused voice from the couch. X rolls over to his back with a groan to see a small foot hanging off the edge of the couch. _'Raven.'_ He gets up and sees her lying there, eyes closed, hands behind her head, and clearly comfortable. X scowls and she can feel it, Raven smiles in response.

"Who knew you were so graceful," Raven says, her lips contorting into a smirk. X is surprised at her change in tone, even more so than usual it shows inflection and humor.

"When did you wake up?" he asks, ignoring her comment. "You made it seem like you be out for days."

Raven shrugs, "I'm a fast healer. I was up before the bags started appearing. Nice trick, though I think I zapped a few to another dimension."

Red X shakes his head. "You could have called."

"With what phone? And what number would I happen to be calling? You clearly have no idea how to make the first move. Unless of course this is a very intricate one night stand."

X opens his mouth to respond, but when the words process in his mind he stops. '_Is this Raven? Wait this is like the wink. Okay, it's a joke.'_ He forces a laugh into the silence that has formed while he thought. Without her injuries, there is nothing keeping Raven there. '_Why is she here? Not to say goodbye.'_

The microwave dings, and the seemingly fearless villain flinches. Raven laughs at his slight jump,

"And to think, we have this impression that you're so calm and collected all of the time. I can't wait to let the team know that all we need is a microwave and a pile of laundry to capture you."

At this joke he actually laughs, he retrieves his pizza, and walks back to the couch. "I doubt it would be that easy," he responds and falls onto the couch landing on Raven's legs. She grumbles and pulls her legs from under him, curling them close to her body. As he goes to take a bit of pizza, she levitates it out of his grasp and into her hands. She takes a slow, dramatic bite, waiting for him to challenge her. He doesn't, and takes the remaining slice off the plate. They munch in silence, occasionally making eye contact. When they finish, they sit in the silence. Until Raven sighs.

"I do have to leave. And you need to leave me alone." Her tone is no nonsense. Her time in her meditative state gave her time to think, and collectively, with her emotions, she decided that she isn't getting in any deeper than she already is.

Red X smiles in his mind, '_predictable_,' he leans closer to her. "You don't have to leave. I mean, I did save your life. But if you're into the 'intricate one night stand' thing, sex would be a great way to repay me." He finishes with a wink, and a hand on her thigh.

Raven slaps him without a moment's thought, her face flushing a dark red. She clenches her jaw and glares. "Consider my repayment not killing you right here and not telling my team where you live or anything that has occurred over the past few days. How does that sound?" Raven stands up, X realizes that she's wearing her leotard again. Her cape is gone; he smirks when he realizes that it's in a laundry bag somewhere.

"You can keep the cape," she says dryly, acknowledging its absence, "I've got more." She pulls on her shoes and walks out of his reach. Something in X makes a hurt sound when the heroine turns away from him. He stands up out of instinct and out of character, he reaches towards her.

"Stay," he breathes and the earnestness in his voice is there and uncontrollable. He puts up the bad boy façade because it's easier to steal when you act untouchable, but in this moment all he wants is for her to turn around and grab is hand. She doesn't turn around, but she doesn't reach out. She shakes her head, the twinkle in her eyes is gone, in its place is something deep the feels like it could swallow him whole.

"I just wanted to say goodbye," she whispers and with a sad smile, disappears.

Red X falls back onto the couch, he reaches out his hand, and can still feel the warmth from where Raven sat moments ago.

Raven lands on the roof of Titan's Tower with a light thump. The sun is making its way across the city and from her spot, Raven can see the orb grazing the very top of the building she just left. She sighs and looks up to the sky, blinking back any potential tears. She takes a deep breath and walks into her home.

Nothing spectacular happens when she enters, the building knows her signature and allows her a peaceful homecoming. Raven kicks off her shoes and continues to the kitchen, trying to focus her thoughts and fabricate a story for her team, knowing that Robin would be relentless. '_I should have asked X about the belt. That must have been yesterday? Or was it this morning? I have no idea what day it is'._

She goes through the motions of making tea, focusing her brain power on a story. She decides to play it all off with amnesia, knowing that the last time this happened, she was a little fuzzy on details. She pick out a few specific items, the building collapsing, a boy with no name, her mental talk with Robin, and teleporting at the tower. The teapot lets out a scream and Raven finishes making her tea. She walks in the direction of her room, without waiting for anyone to notice her arrival. Though she just woke up, she needs a nap. '_Or hibernation_,' she thinks.

Raven walks towards the control room, a more secluded are than their main briefing room. She hears the voices of her teammates and peaks in. She almost drops her mug when she sees them watching a feed of Red X, unmasked and dangling her belt in front of the camera.

"I brought you guys a present from a mutual friend" his voice echoes around the room, Raven can see the hints of a smirk on his lips and rolls her eyes. _'He enjoyed this way too much.'_

Robin pauses the image, "I ran his face through every database I could find, and nothing matched."

Starfire raises her hand, making small noises of excitement. Robin shakes his head, "Yes, Star?"

"What does that mean friend Robin?"

Before Robin gets the chance to answer, Raven speaks up, "It means he hasn't done anything wrong."

The team turns as a collective unit, their faces all in different degrees of shock that slowly dissolve into excitement and they all rush to her at once. In seconds Raven is in the middle of a group hug, her ears full of questions and the loud voices of her team. Raven smiles, glad to be back with her family.


	12. Chapter 12

I'm sorry. Wisdom teeth and College and also Laziness get in the way of everything. Hopefully you guys aren't reading waterlogged because I don't even know what to do with that. Here's your Titan- filled chapter! Eventually I'll get around to something sex. Note _eventually._

* * *

Everyone is yelling questions and phrases that Raven only just catches. She plasters a smile on her face as Cyborg drags her into the kitchen. The others follow suit, Starfire and Robin exchanging a worried whisper when they think she isn't looking. Raven ignores it and actually laughs at one of Beast Boy's jokes.

"Now I'm not going to harass you yet, but be prepared Raven. I'm going to kick your ass for that stunt you pulled, and Boy Wonder is already thinking of 30 ways to get a permanent tracker on you," Cyborg sends her a stern look and Raven nods before she plants her head on the kitchen counter.

"Seriously Rae! You can't do that to us! I almost _DIED_!" yells Beast Boy in her ear, throwing his arms around her and sniffling slightly. Raven pats his arm and lifts her head.

"I had a bit of a mishap during the fire. I'm sorry I worried you guys. I really am. It was irresponsible and dangerous," As she speaks she looks around the kitchen at her team. They all seem to except the apology, except Robin. _'Of course'_ she thinks, _'I'll have to write him a 10 page apology and kiss his ass before he gets over this one.'_

She groans as a plate of steaming pile of waffles, already buttered and covered in syrup, crashes to the counter in front of her. Cyborg is standing in front of her with a grin on his face. The sorceress looks around at the others already eating, her eyebrows quirk in confusion.

Cyborg rolls his eyes at her and tosses her a fork, "You're about to pass out right there. Eat, then you're going to bed."

Robin grumbles from the other side of the counter and Starfire elbows him so hard that he almost falls off of his barstool. Raven smiles wide, unable to contain her happiness at not only the waffles, but at the fact that this almost seems like a normal meal. _'As normal as it gets around here.'_

"Raven! It is glorious to have you home and I dearly hope that you will not do the disappearing again. It has worried all of us deeply."

"I know Starfire. It worried me too. I don't like being away from home, especially not with the state I was in," she pauses to take a big bite of her plate of waffles, "I got lucky. Who knows who could have picked me up."

"Who was that guy, Raven?" asks Robin, earning him a collective glare from the rest of his team.

"I told you, he's a friend."

"Of yours?" he questions, eyebrows raised.

"Yes. Am I not allowed to have friends outside of the Titans?" Her eyes flash in defiance.

"No, you are. But next time you're planning a sleepover after a mission I'd appreciate it if you didn't fake your death first."

The words come off as a joke, Raven grimaces, but she knows the words are true. _'I really am going to literally have to kiss his ass for him to get over this.'_

The team finishes the mean in relative silence and in the end, it is just a regular meal.

"Breakfast for dinner needs to happen more often!" yells the youngest teen as he and Starfire clean up the kitchen. Starfire nods her head in vigorous agreement.

"I could go for that," Raven mumbles, stuffed from having 3 serving of waffles. Across from her, Cyborg's 5 plates sit covered in the remnants of butter and syrup.

Robin gets up from his spot and offers his hand to Raven, "I have never seen anyone that close to out eating Cyborg. Congratulations," he takes her hand and pulls her out of her chair. She sways slightly when she stands and Robin pulls her into his arms.

"Bedtime," his voice is firm and Raven nods in agreement. She's aware that it's barely 8 o' clock, but sleep is the one thing on her mind. Rabin rolls his eyes, knowing that Raven is rarely this vulnerable and gently lifts her into his arms. The 'super- sleuth' in him wants to interrogate her, but he shrugs off the burning question and instead takes her to her room, Starfire hovering behind him. He sets Raven on her bed and leaves Starfire to make sure that Raven actually goes to sleep in something other than her uniform. He doesn't wait outside.

"Raven?"

"Yeah, Star?"

"I do not wish to bother you, I know that you must be very tired. But I must know, and I do promise not to tell the others. Who was that boy?"

Raven groans and rolls over to face her one true 'girl friend' and tells the truth.

"I met him a while ago. You've met him too. Well not met him, but you know him. We aren't exactly friends. It is… complicated"

Starfire just nods and tosses her a shirt from the closet that Raven gratefully puts on instead of her leotard.

"Where is your cape?" asks the alien, Raven looks at her, mouth agape, Starfire has one small eyebrow lifted in amusement.

"Star, please. Not tonight!" Raven collapses back onto her bed, grabbing a pillow and smashing it over her face. Starfire giggles and goes to leave, she says goodnight and the door slides shut.

Raven lets out a yell through her pillow. The sound is guttural and frustrated, but the plush pillow muffles it, and as the yell leaves her body she can feel the tension leave as well. Raven is exhausted, the meditative coma doesn't do much other than heal, it doesn't rest the body, in fact, it almost makes the body work harder. Raven throws the pillow off her face and across the room. Something hits the floor with a thud but she ignores it. She sits up and slowly falls into the familiar routine of meditation.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos," she mumbles again and again, clearing her thoughts and going over the morning in her head. She thinks of Red X's face when he asked her to stay. And how she almost said yes. Raven opens her eyes and drops to the bed.

"I give up!" she yells to her empty room. She curls up under the pile of blankets on her bed and minutes later she's asleep.

She lands in a hectic dreamscape, and right now, Raven doesn't even try to control them. She just sits down and watches how her emotions are behaving.

Happy is holding hands with Love, they're speaking in hushed tones. Raven isn't thrilled to see it, in fact it might be the most worrisome thing she's seen in a while.

Timid seems to agree with Raven's mindset, watching the two bright emotions from a distance.

Brave is on a tirade, as usual, threatening to tell Robin everything and Punch Red X in the face. Raven agrees with her second point.

Rude and Sloth both look to be in states of sleep. Though Rude is probably pretending, just to ignore everyone whereas Sloth is actually asleep.

Rage is relatively placid, pacing and grumbling. Though the angry thoughts surrounding her are practically tangible.

Intelligence looks at Raven and smiles. That worries Raven as well. Only a small accepting smile, nothing else.

Raven stands up and sighs, that alone gets the emoticlones to stop. She looks at them and shakes her head, dragging her hands through her hair.

"Just behave, you guys, okay? For all of our sakes!"

With that she leaves.

When Raven wakes up again the sky is a morbid shade of dark and dreary. She looks out her window and sees the city lights reflecting off the bay. She sighs and with a shake of her head she goes to hunt down Robin; lies already formed and solidified in her mind.

When Robin hears the knock on his door, he already knows who to expect.

"You've got a hell of a lot of explaining to do," he says as the door slides open. Raven is standing there, looking mostly tired. She shrugs as if to let him know he's in for disappointment. He lets her in and she throws herself onto the edge of his bed with a grunt. Robin laughs even though the situation is much more serious than this. He plops himself down on the other side of the bed cross-legged and waits. _'She's going to lie,'_ internally he sighs. He won't pry. He knows that every one of them needs a certain amount of privacy. Especially between the two of them. A mental link doesn't make well for secrets, and if she doesn't want him to know everything, he'll attempt to respect that.

"I don't remember much from the building," she starts, "I remember calling Cyborg and everything crashing down. I woke up somewhere and it was bright. I don't know his name," Raven lifts her head to look Robin in the eyes, his mask is off, "I wish I did, honestly. I called you and told him to give you guys the belt, and then I passed out. I went into a healing state. I woke up on a couch. He was gone. I took a shower, I waited for him to come back. I said goodbye and left."

Raven looks around the room then rolls over to stare at the ceiling. Robin watches her carefully, content with the half-truth his friend is telling him. There is more but Robin won't ask and Raven won't tell. She groans and covers her face with her hands.

"And I am potentially in love with him."

Robins mouth drops open and he laughs, because that is the only thing he can do. He falls on his back ot the bed and puts a hand on Raven's arm, still laughing.

"That's okay. You can be in love with him. Did you even tell Starfire that?"

"Shut up Bird Brain!"

"And here I though I had it bad! This tops everything. This is great. Not great. But great."

Raven groans and zaps Robin with a small bolt of energy. His laughing subsides slowly.

"Just be careful Rae."

"I will. I can take care of myself most of the time."

"I know, but you know I worry. Go get some sleep Raven."

Raven leaves, the chill of déjà vu running through her even as she falls back asleep.


	13. Chapter 13

Sorry, this is so my bad. I know that is has been WAY too long. Sorry, but NaNoWriMo consumed a lot of my life, as did school. But here is a long chapter! and I'm working on the next one already!

* * *

Red X sits up quickly, confused, his hand wraps around a knife in his pocket as he sits up. He looks around his apartment not seeing anything concerning. He gets up and checks the place and even though he still has an odd feeling he goes back into the living room, ready to unpack his things. The scattered bags of groceries and laundry are easily unpacked in a sense, the groceries are stowed away in a closet and his clothes are thrown on the floor. He will worry about his missing bags later, not yet knowing what Raven sent to an alternate dimension. He looks at a clock on his bedroom wall with a huff, noting that it is well after midnight. He finds his laptop, noting that someone else has recently used it. _'What?'_ He looks at search history. All that was searched was the news, specifically the apartment fire. Though the article is still pulled up, as though the lid of the laptop was shut abruptly. On the edge of the article is a video clip, it was played earlier, the hyperlink purple. The shows the building on fire, with The robot and shape shifter working with police to put the fire out. The alien flies out of a window, the camera zooms in on her and Robin, She looks concerned and the leader's expression is not much better. The reporter is saying something but cannot be heard over the sound of the building crumbling. The only thing that does make it to the microphone is the sound of Cyborg yelling Raven's name. X blanches at the sight of the building, with the band of young heroes standing in front of the pile of rubble. _'They really though she was dead. And I kept her away from them.'_ Red X even has to feel bad about that one, _'not my smoothest pick up.'_

X pulls up another window, pulling up an encrypted page, he stares at it for a moment, deciphering the message. He has a few job offers, though nothing he feels like doing tonight. He groans and flips on the television, the news is default. Robin is in the middle of a press conference, the only other member of the team there is the green one. X listens as he scrolls though the rest of his job offers.

"We would like to let the City to know that Raven is alright. She managed to get out of the building right before it collapsed. She is not here today because she is still recovering, with the rest of the team making sure that she does so as quickly as possible. We as a team would like to thank the person who took our friend in for a few days. As always we are grateful to this city and its citizens. Thank you."

The television cuts to commercial and Red X flips it to a movie channel, sounds of explosions and gunfire echo in the apartment. He watches a car chase sequence, immediately bored, considering the excitement of the past few days. He grabs his keys, throws on his belt, stuffs a mask in his pocket, and leaves his apartment, heading for the garage. He jumps on his motorcycle and drives the long way to Titans Tower, looking over the bay before he makes his way to Johnny and Jinx's house- uninvited as usual.

At about 3 in the morning a loud beep comes from Jinx's dresser. She groans at it, but gets up when Johnny practically pushes her out of bed. She flips open the yellow communicator, her second to last link to the Titans and that part of her past. Her actual last link to the titans is staring at her groggy eyed through the COM link. Jinx groans again.

"What to you want Rae? Its late," she grumbles as she walks into the hallway.

"Nice to see you too," says Raven nonchalantly, "It isn't like they only announced that I was alive or anything."

Jinx's eyes widen in horror at the face on the small screen, "Oh my GOD!" she screams with the sudden realization, "You were _dead_! I watched the building collapse! Oh my _God_, Raven!"

Over the link, Raven cracks a smile. "I take it that I can be over in a few minutes?" she asks and Jinx replies with a vigorous nod.

"I'm putting on the teapot now!" shouts Jinx, snapping the lid shut after hearing Raven's short breath of laughter.

In the tower Raven pulls on a pair of jeans and a hoodie before going to Robin's room, before she can even knock she hears hushed whispers. Raven pauses, considering taking this moment to embarrass her friends, but changes her mind. She goes up a floor and knock on Cyborg's door, no answer. She heads down to the garage, seeing Cyborg tinkering on the engine of his baby. He looks up when he hears her enter, surprise on his face at her appearance. She has even taken the time to hunt down a halo-ring, making her skin peach tinted and her hair a light brown, her eyes are still purple, but her chakara is gone. Her specific halo- ring even helps control her emotions, helpful when she ventures into civilian life.

"Going somewhere, Princess?" he asks jokingly, though the concern is there.

"I'm going to see Jinx, I don't think that it is possible for me to sleep anymore than I have," she says with a smile, gesturing to her get up.

Cy nods, "That explains the people paint. Got your communicator?" Raven pulls it out, it is disguised as a flip phone. "You need to be back by training, tell Pink I say hey," he says, giving her his blessing and tinkering with his car again. Raven would normally take the T- Car, but seeing that it is occupied she surveys her other choices. Flying and teleporting is not an option, seeing as that Jinx lives with Johnny Rancid, who doesn't know that they are exactly friends. Raven knows that he is aware, but typically he ignores the fact and they get along quite well. After the defeat of the Brotherhood, Jinx left both sides of the fight, and Raven can't blame her for it. Raven scowls at the pickup truck that Beast Boy sometimes drives now and turns to one of Robin's numerous motorcycles. _'Robin and Cyborg are going to duke it out to see who gets to kill me if I survive this.'_ She hops on one of the more normal bikes, ignoring Cyborg's loud groan of disapproval. The bike roars to life and Raven pushes down the urge to flinch as she puts it in gear and speeds off.

Once on the quiet streets of Jump City, Raven smiles taking a breath of fresh air. He communicator is already ringing. She uses her powers to open it and hover it near her face. Robin's angry face pops up.

"Who gave you permission to leave?" he asks with an extremely pronounced glare. His mask is once again discarded

"I did. And Cyborg gave me a curfew," she says with a quick flash of teeth.

"Who said you could take one of my bikes?" he questions even harsher than before. At this Raven raises a delicate eyebrow and actually smiles.

"You were… predisposed," she replies and even in the dim light she can see her friends blush.

"You should be wearing a helmet," he says with a sigh and closes the communicator. Raven smiles at the win and turns into Jinx's driveway.

She knocks on the back door, shoving the keys and communicator in her jacket pocket. Jinx lets her in with a huge smile,

"Oh my, look who showed up pretty tonight," Jinx says with a smirk.

"Trust me," replies Raven, "this is much better than the bruised up gray thing that was going to show up."

The girls embrace and sit on the couch with steaming cups of tea in their hands.

"I saw the press conference. Who did you shack up with for a few days?" Jinx is saying, as the front door slams open. She stands up, pushing whoever it is back with a field of pink energy. Raven stands up, energy curling around her palms.

"Damnit Red, I am going kill you then next time you do that!" shouts Jinx and Raven quickly drops her powers. The person pushed back onto the ground is a boy, an uncannily familiar one, and Raven's heart stops as Red X walks into the house. He brushes off his pants, throwing his keys into a bowl near the door and walking to the kitchen without looking up.

"Nice to see you too Jinx, Jesus. Who's bike is that?"

"Its mine," says Raven matter of factly, and Red X stops dead in his tracks as he is opening the fridge. Raven smiles in her mind, knowing that he can't recognize her, except maybe her voice and with the help of the halo-ring her voice is much more expressive. His aura swirls in fear and confusion. Jinx shakes her head and lets out a stressed huff of air.

"Red this is Rae. Rae, this asshole is Red. One of Johnny's old friends," Jinx gets up and fills their now empty cups of tea.

"Ray?" he ask, clearly intrigued, and at this point all Raven wants to do is leave. He grabs two beers from the fridge, and extends his free hand towards Raven. She takes a deep breath and stares at him, eyebrows raised.

"Nice to meet you," she says, still ignoring the hand. Red X blinks and puts his hand back by his side.

"Interesting name, Ray. It doesn't have anything with light sources, like the sun, does it?" he asks scathingly. And Raven lets out a carefree laugh, noting his association with the name, even surprising Jinx in the kitchen, who drops something with a curse. _'At least he doesn't recognize me straight off. I wonder how long I can play this game?'_

"A very clever observation," she says with a bright smile, happy is screaming somewhere in the back of her mind as she extends her hand, X stares at her but shakes her hand anyway.

"Yeah…" he says trailing off, "I'm gonna go get Johnny," he turns on his heel and sprints down the hall. Raven hears the door close and collapses to the couch in a fit of laughter. Jinx runs over in shock, and tears are streaming down her face.

"I'm sorry," she says between gasps of air, "but I couldn't resist."

Jinx is staring at Raven with her bright eyes bugging out of her head.

"What did you just do to that poor kid?" exclaims Jinx with a suppressed smile. And Raven calms herself down with a few deep breaths.

"Well for one, he is certainly not poor. And I had to throw him off, the vibe I give off isn't exactly average in any sense," she says explaining.

"What? Wait… What?" says Jinx, slowly piecing things together. Her eyes glow pink momentarily and she falls back to the floor.

"You both are going to be the death of me!" she exclaims and Raven breaks a smile. The boys at that point enter the living room and sit down on the opposite couch. Jinx and Raven exchange a glance and a smile. The boys however stare at them in confusion. Jinx giggles.

"Why are you even here, Rae?" asks Johnny crossly, Raven notes that Johnny is projecting that he doesn't plan on telling X who she is. She decides not to lie, per say, making it easier for her to suppress her baser emotions.

"I escaped the clutches of my evil family. After my last stunt I think they need a break," she says with a wag of her eyebrows.

"What kind of stunt did you pull?" asks Red X from the couch, his bottle of beer empty in his hands and a full one at his feet.

"I fell and broke a few things," she says. Johnny and Jinx shake their heads, and Red X raises an eyebrow.

"And how exactly is that a stunt?" he asks, his smile fading.

"In the process brought the house down. Very destructive" she jokes with a smile, causing Jinx to screech with laughter, even Johnny smiles. X looks slightly disgruntled and Raven smiles at that fact.

"I feel like I'm missing something here," X says, looking around at the other people in the room.

"I hardly believe someone as illustrious as you could miss something," she replies in a monotone before sipping at her tea. Johnny and Jinx are both laughing at this point, though Johnny seems to be trying not to.

"You know who I am?" he says warily, reaching into his back pocket. Raven laughs.

"You're hanging out with Jinx and Johnny Rancid, it was only a matter of time before I figured it out," she says with a slight shrug. "Regardless, I can see that sway of your hips a mile away. And you know what they say, hips don't lie." Raven takes another sip of her tea as Red X's mouth hangs open. Even Johnny and Jinx look slightly disgruntled, knowing Raven's identity.

"Who are you?' he demands from his spot on the couch, pointing his beer bottle in her direction. Raven resist using her powers to take the bottle from him.

"Oh you know, a friend of a friend," she shrugs again and her communicator buzzes in her pocket. She makes sure it is only on talk as she flips is open, pressing it to her ear.

"Hey, Raven?" its Beast Boy, his voice is groggy.

"Yes?" she asks, getting off the couch and walking to the kitchen.

"Cy says you need to meet us at the bridge, Dr. Light is here. We need you to do your ogga booga thing again," he replies, yawning halfway through. Raven groans.

"Yeah, I'll be there in 5. Keep him busy," she replies, shutting the phone, before walking back into the living room. The boys are talking about bank security and Raven plants a kiss on Jinx's cheek.

"Duty calls?" asks Jinx wearily.

"Yeah. And people say that New York never sleeps. It sleeps more than Jump," she says with a short wave to Johnny and a salute to Red X. She leaves the house and jumps on the motorcycle, heading towards the bridge. As the bike roars away from the house Red X frowns.

"Who is she?" he asks again and both of the former villains reply with a simple statement.

"She's Rae."


	14. Chapter 14

I feel like I should apologize again for how long this took to update. So sorry. Next chapter is going to be a hot mess.

* * *

As Raven arrives on the bridge, the sun is rising over the bay, and it would strike her as beautiful if it were not for the fact that Dr. Light is somehow winning a battle against the Titans. Raven cuts the engine and clears her throat. Dr. Light turns and scoffs at her appearance and Raven realizes that she is still wearing her holo- ring. She walks a few steps closer before pulling the ring off, she focuses, channeling rage and does her 'ogga bogga' thing, as Beast Boy so aptly put it. She clears her throat once more, working with the elongated fangs.

"I am getting really tired of you," she says. The villain turns around, and Raven complete with horns and tentacles, smiles and bares her teeth. The doctor drops Starfire in shock, she plummets but catches herself quickly, and fires a few starbolts his way. Very shortly, the 'doctor' is taken down once more and carted away.

"Not bad," says Cyborg watching as the police drive off. "How was Jinx?" he asks.

"Good, probably mad that I woke her up. I met one of her friends," Raven comments.

"Yeah? Someone I wouldn't like?" He asks suspiciously.

"Definitely someone you wouldn't like," she confirms with a smile. Beast Boy runs up to them, clearly awake.

"Dudes, Pizza!" he exclaims while raising his arms. Starfire and Robin have already agreed and they leave on Robin's bike, the tricked out one that Raven wouldn't touch if her life depended on it. Cyborg agrees instantly and Raven just stares at him.

"Pizza? Its like 5 am," she asks incredulously. Beast Boy responds with a smile. Raven sighs, "fine, pizza."

The boys exclaim and they all pile onto the other motorcycle, Raven lets Cyborg drive and Raven sits behind him, with a cat- shaped Beast Boy in her lap. When they pull up to their pizza place, the three have to walk in through the back door, the young heroes are in good with the owner, who will open the store at all hours of the day for the city's guardians. Their pizzas are already in the oven and they sit inside instead of on the patio on the upper deck. Raven's stomach growls at the prospect of food and she settles down at a round table between Starfire and Cyborg.

"Thanks for taking care of him Raven," says Robin from across the table, he has a large scratch on his cheek, "Though it doesn't get you out of being in trouble for leaving tonight."

"I'm in trouble?" she asks scathingly.

"Yes, you know you aren't completely better. You should not be running around in the middle of the night, doing God knows what. Not to mention the fact that you were disguised as a civilian and you took my motorcycle," Robin sits up straighter in his seat and crosses his arms. Raven mimics his posture.

"Robin, how many times are we going to go over the fact that you are not my father?" she asks. Cyborg lets out a low whistle from her right, and Starfire to her left, seated between Robin and Raven looks concerned.

"We are all aware of that Raven, but it does not mean that you can do whatever you want."

"So am I in trouble for leaving, being bored, or for playing with one of your toys?"

"All three. You are not better, you shouldn't have left. I'm sorry that you were bored but that does not mean you should go gallivanting around town. And I'm sure Jinx would have liked to sleep past 3." Robin uncrosses his arms and takes a drink from his cup of coffee. Raven sighs, knowing that arguing about this won't get her out of house arrest for a few days. The owner arrives with a stack of pizzas, placing them on the table and the titans begin to eat.

"And the motorcycle?" asks Raven, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't like sharing my toys- bad habit," he says with a shrug and a pout.

The titans demolish their pizzas; there are never leftovers, mostly due to Starfire's nine stomachs and Cyborg's ability to eat basically anything in any quantity. The titans arrive back at the tower, forgo sleep and training, and pile onto their couch. Starfire picks a movie and halfway through the chick flick that Raven is grudgingly invested in, her communicator buzzes. She crawls off the couch and sits on a chair in the kitchen before flipping it open, Jinx's face pops up on the screen.

"How did you know?" Jinx asks with a mischievous smile on her lips.

"He's like our number two enemy. I've gotten to know his aura intimately," Raven replies and it isn't a lie, however if was his face that she recognized first.

"Well he has no idea who you are. Johnny and I figured it would be a bad idea. You're not going to come get him are you?" Jinx sounds concerned, her eyes glancing off the screen.

"Why, is he still there?"

"Yeah, they put in some movie."

"I'm not going to come get him. It's past my bedtime, and I'm grounded," says Raven with the shake of her head.

"Robin's mad about you taking the bike," Jinx's statement is accompanied by an eye roll, "I'm breaking you out. See you in 5." The communicator goes static and Raven smiles. Raven leaves for her room, making sure that all the other titans are asleep.

Once in her room Raven slides the holo ring out of her pocket, debating on whether or not she should keep up appearances around Jinx and Johnny. _'They won't give two shits. But what about X?'_ Raven groans, falling back onto her bed. _'They have no idea that we spent time together. Jinx would have told me.'_ Raven groans again, closing her eyes and concentrating on Nevermore. She lands in a field of flowers, her emotions are scattered about, they raise their heads in recognition before going back to causing trouble.

"Intelligence, Love, get over here," she calls. The two personified emotions walk over. They stand there, looking lost until Raven speaks again. She points at the pink cloaked emotion "What is going on. Is this a crush? Or something more?"

Love looks at Raven, considering her options before deciding. "It's a crush, it could be more if you keep it up. I think he likes you," she finishes with a smile on her lips and a blush on her cheeks. Raven groans before turning to Intelligence.

"And you? What do you have to say?" she asks bitterly. Intelligence shrugs in a way that should be careless, though Raven knows the trick.

"He's a villain. You're a hero. It's a moral conundrum. Granted, he knows where you stand, seeing as you have continued to put him in his place, regardless of you feelings. You have even escalated your violence towards him since you have discovered your feelings. Though when alone with him in the apartment you seemed to be comfortable. You've told your team minor lies, and avoided telling Jinx about your situation. However, romantic relationships are good, a sign of maturity and emotion, something that we collectively have been working on. You like Red X, he is showing signs of returning those feelings. Having a relationship would be good for you, moving on in some ways from the issue of Malchior, though that was a number of years ago the experience has left lasting marks on your interactions in romantic situations. For example, your relationship with Speedy." Intelligence finishes with a frown and Raven lets out a held breath.

"Alright," she says with a sigh, "This is going to get messy." And with that Raven opens her eyes to Jinx leaning over her. Raven shouts and shoves the pink haired girl off of her. Jinx hits the floor with a laugh. And Raven sits sup with a glare.

"You're crazy," Raven says.

"You talk to yourself when you do that," Jinx replies with a smug look and Raven rolls her eyes, having been over this more than once.

"So why exactly are you breaking me out?" asks Raven suspiciously.

"We're going out. You and me and Johnny and Red," says Jinx with a cat-like smile.

"You're crazy!"

"You already said that, Rae," Jinx rolls her eyes.

"And I'll say it again. What were you thinking?!" Raven collapses back onto her bed. Jinx crawls back on the bed, curling on her side next to Raven.

"I'm thinking that something is going on. I don't know what. I'm going to figure it out and you're going to help me."

"What are you trying to figure out?" asks Raven silently hoping that it has nothing to do with her. Or X.

"Red did laundry. That means there's a girl. You're a different girl, with touchy- feely- knowy powers. I need you to trick him into telling you who this girl is," Jinx sits up in the middle of her demands with a pleading look in her eyes. Raven sits up as well, her head spinning and an empty feeling in her stomach. Raven slips the holo ring back on and feels the tingle of its power.

"Alright. I'll do it," says Raven. _'This is already messy,"_ she thinks, grabbing Jinx's hand and teleporting them outside Jinx's back door.


End file.
